This brief provides examples of gender transformative changes achieved by initiatives in Papua New Guinea. It describes practical, proven approaches for gender-transformative change and highlights the importance of:
- Program design explicit in its aim to reshape gender norms and power relations.
- Working in partnership with organisations and community groups to create change.
- Drawing on community strengths, customs and practices.
- Clearly aligning activities to support government policy commitments and strengthen government systems.
Balance of Power is an innovative approach to supporting Pacific Island countries achieve their objectives of inclusive and effective leadership in line with national policy frameworks. Specifically, Balance of Power aims to contribute to a ‘better balance’ in women’s and men’s leadership roles and opportunities. Building on lessons learned on what works and what doesn’t in the Pacific context, the innovation is in three key parts:
The fifth Pacific Women in Papua New Guinea Annual Learning Workshop offered an opportunity for Pacific Women-funded and non-funded partners to come together to discuss their work and research and to share lessons about what is working, the challenges, and the opportunities for promoting gender equality in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
This toolkit provides sequential activities to support organisations to ensure that gender equality and the empowerment of women are integrated into their programming. The activities are: 1. Exploring Our Own Expertise About Gender and Diversity. 2. Social and Personal Identity Wheel. 3. Exploring Our Diversity. 4. The Story of Joana and Jona. 5. Choosing the sex of your child. 6. Ideal Man, Ideal Woman. 7. Pressures and Privileges of Being a Man/Woman. 8. Definitions. 9. The New Planet. 10. Group Activity. 11. Power Walk. 12. Power Role Play. 13. The Gender Equality Framework. 14.
This paper examines the experience and lessons of three projects implemented by CARE International in Papua New Guinea to inform best practice in inclusive governance programming in the future. CARE’s governance work enables citizens (the “grassroots”) and government (representative as well as the civil service) to come together, disrupting negative or destructive cycles of distrust, inaction and disempowerment.
The fourth Pacific Women in Papua New Guinea Annual Learning Workshop provided an update on activities, research, innovation, and good practice undertaken by Pacific Women and its partners in 2017-2018 in the areas of:
- Increasing women’s leadership and decision making.
- Increasing economic opportunities for women.
- Reducing violence against women and expanding support services.
The Voter Education Project was targeted at the ‘lost generation’ of Bougainville (people aged 35 to 45 years). Over 20 months, the Bougainville Women’s Federation and International Women’s Development Agency provided education about voting rights and responsibilities to 22,463 women and female youth, including 206 with disabilities and 21,368 men and male youth, including 383 with disabilities and another 53 people with disabilities. These voters were able to use these skills in the 2017 Papua New Guinea national elections.
The case studies of coalitions in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Tonga highlight four influential factors in the formation and functioning of coalitions:
Formative events: What brought people together to ‘do something’ in a concerted way? For example, the torture and death of a woman in a sorcery-related violence incident generated the impetus for the formation of the Papua New Guinea coalition examined in this study. Whether formative events are locally or externally driven appears to mould the future shape of a coalition and how it functions.
This study analysed a random selection of 908 cases from seven Pacific Island countries, including 111 domestic violence cases and 787 sexual assault cases. Each case is analysed to determine whether gender stereotypes, customary reconciliation (e.g. apology, forgiveness) or other contentious factors were considered during sentencing. Contentious factors are those factors which, when used in mitigation by the court, discriminate against the victim on the basis of her gender.
For this research, 12 young Bougainvillean women were trained in research methods. Six teams of two women then undertook research in six districts, covering the three regions of Bougainville (North, Central and South). The teams conducted 52 individual interviews and 49 group discussions. Field researchers participated in an initial analysis workshop and the lead researcher was mentored as a co-author of the research report.
Samoan women have achieved approximate equality to men in most modern spheres of government and the economy, but have never succeeded in winning more than five seats in the 49-seat parliament. Samoa has been among the countries ranked lowest in the world for women’s representation in parliament: in 2015 it ranked 128 out of 140 countries.
This comprehensive research consisted of:
- A nationwide survey of women’s participation in political and economic village-based organisations, covering all villages and sub-villages in Samoa.
The Autonomous Region of Bougainville introduced the Pacific’s first parliamentary reserved seats for women system in 2004. While the system guarantees a minimum level of representation for women in the Bougainville House of Representatives, concerns have been raised that the reserved seats act as a ceiling for women’s representation and prevent women from successfully contesting other seats. No women candidates contested the 33 open seats in the 2005 election. In the 2010 election, five women contested open seats.
Only two women have been elected to parliament (currently made up of 15 members) in Tuvalu since independence in 1978. With some exceptions, since the 1997 Falekaupule Act the final decision-making body (the Falekaupule) on many of Tuvalu’s eight inhabited islands has been dominated by male members, namely elders, matais (heads of each clan) and chiefs.
Because national politics remains heavily island based, the design of temporary special measures becomes crucial. Options being considered are:
- Provide an additional seat for women from each of Tuvalu’s eight islands.
In Papua New Guinea, it is primarily through being ‘good’ wives, mothers and household managers that women become valued. This situation can leave young women and those who do not become wives and mothers with limited options for gaining respect and a voice, while potentially also constraining the opportunities for women to participate in other spheres.
This literature review identifies assumptions underpinning key questions relating to the appropriateness of donor assistance to activities and programs designed to support democratic governance in East Timor, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. The extract commences with a discussion of some underpinning themes and then moves to particular issues relating to the promotion of women into political leadership. The review concludes with a full bibliography of sources used.
This short paper looks at the example of women parliamentarians in Kiribati and Samoa to identify common characteristics of women who have been successful at being elected:
- Coming from a large and influential family provides an important ‘base vote’, willing campaign helpers, and potential financiers. Women MPs also tend to come from political families. That is, one or both of their parents, uncles or brothers have tended to have been in politics and they often act as patrons and mentors.
Opening Doors for Lasting Change – Gender Transformation in Practice – sharing programming approaches that have led to gender transformative change in Papua New Guinea, to inform policy, action and practice to include principles of gender transformation. There is also a detailed video slideshow that highlights key gender transformative approaches and examples, as outlined in the Pacific Practice Note.
Positive gender transformative change is not only possible, it is happening in Papua New Guinea.
This is detailed in the ‘What Works for Gender Transformative Approaches in Papua New Guinea' report.
In the lead up to Tongan elections on November 30, 2021, a workshop was held to assist current and potential women candidates to become more effective candidates who are better able to develop impactful campaigns and influence voters about the benefits women offer as leaders. In mid-November 2021, Tonga had only two women members in parliament, one elected and one appointed.
The photo exhibition “Celebrating Women in the Public Service” was held in Port Vila in July 2020, as part of Vanuatu’s 40th Independence celebrations. The exhibition narrated in pictures Ni-Vanuatu women in the public service commission. The commission recognised the contribution of the many women who served since 1980, most of whom have since retired. It took the opportunity to showcase women at the helm of decision making in 2020 that is shaping the development of the country.