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:
This report summarises the workshop approach, objectives, key learning outcomes and participant recommendations of the third Pacific Women and Fiji Women’s Fund Fiji Annual Reflection and Planning Workshop.
The primary objectives of the workshop were for participants to:
- Reflect on overall progress in advancing gender equality at various levels.
- Share experiences and lessons learned in promoting women’s economic empowerment, enhancing women’s leadership opportunities and capabilities, ending violence against women and coalition building.
The Pacific Girl Inception Workshop was held from 21–25 October 2019 in Suva, Fiji. The week-long workshop comprised the following meetings:
- One-day Girls Pawa Toktok with adolescent girls from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu.
- Two-day Partners Meeting with selected civil society organisation partners from Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
- The Pacific Girl Regional Learning Network meeting.
Philip and Oroshuma are a couple in Fumito village in the Unggai Bena District of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. In this video, they reflect on how their lives have changed individually, and for their family, as a result of the training opportunities they have received through the Model Farming Family coffee extension programs which are part of CARE International PNG's Coffee Industry Support Program.
This report draws on a consultations with communities and key stakeholders to understand current income generation activities undertaken by women and identified areas of women’s current work where future investments could be made. It identifies additional economic opportunities, in which women were not currently engaged, but may have the potential to increase women’s income and Livelihood options.
The report explores and identifies marketing opportunities for women to sell their goods and/or services in Kiribati, as well as in regional and international markets where relevant.
This document provides details about the Australian Government’s investment in supporting adolescent girls in the Pacific. It includes information about:
The review finds that there are very strong outcomes for Spa Academy scholarship graduates and their families.
Graduates feel more confident and valuable. Graduates have increased decision-making power in their families and communities and are considered more of a leader since graduating particularly at work as well as in their families and communities. Graduates have become more empowered and independent.
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.
The Pacific Women Regional Learning Forum on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) aimed to:
- Contribute to and build Pacific understanding and knowledge of women’s economic empowerment and approaches.
- Build on regional research, practitioner expertise and the experiences of women in the region to adapt and improve the Pacific Women approach to WEE.
- Strengthen relationships between development partners working on WEE and catalyse increased communication and more coordinated action.
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.
This three-part report contains a mapping of essential services for survivors of violence against women and actions, outlining the assessment of what is in place that needs strengthening and gap areas. The assessment aims to inform stakeholders at national and state level on the strength of available services aimed at eliminating violence against women in the two states of Pohnpei and Chuuk and to identify gaps in services so as to provide a way forward for eliminating family and sexual violence and for assisting government to report on regional and international obligations.
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.
Two ‘Do No Harm’ guidance material kits have been developed by a team from the International Women’s Development Agency. The kits draw on key findings from the Do No Harm research project, conducted by the Australian National University in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The Do No Harm research explored the relationship between economic inclusion and empowerment programs, and violence against women. The key lessons learned from the research were that:
- Working with men is necessary.
This trainer’s handbook sets out five half-day trainings in Family Business Management Training relevant to rural settings. The topics are:
- Exploring our household.
- Exploring how we work together.
- Managing money and coffee production.
•Decision making and household budgeting.
- Summary and planning for change.
It provides clear guidelines for trainers on activity objectives, key learning points and how to conduct each of the set daily activities.
This paper draws on research undertaken in 2015 among coffee smallholders in Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, focusing specifically on some of the challenges faced by women coffee farmers in accessing financial services.
The research was a collaboration between the Department of Pacific Affairs (formerly the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program) at the Australian National University and the Coffee Industry Support Project of CARE International in Papua New Guinea.
Men’s control of coffee in Papua New Guinea is not only an artefact of colonial agricultural extension but also a consequence of gender norms and the system of land tenure that privileges men. Due to the historic association of coffee with ‘men’s business’, men tend to see coffee income as largely their own, despite women working in coffee production. This research with coffee smallholders showed that money was the most common reason for arguments between couples, with 37.8% of women and 38% of men saying this was what they argued over.
This paper reports on research that found that increasing women’s savings or income does not necessarily lead to greater bargaining power within the household in Papua New Guinea. For women, the choice to escape violent relationships is constrained by gender norms and social customs such as bride price, custody of children and access to land, which limit their ability to live independently.
Poverty data in Fiji is derived from household income and expenditure data, collected via periodic Household Income and Expenditure Surveys. Given gender inequality within households can be significant, assessing individual poverty by using household data and then assuming all household members have the same access to resources and opportunities is problematic. Household-level measurement also means accurate disaggregation of data is impossible. This makes the work of policy makers and advocates harder, masking differences rather than revealing them so they can be addressed.