Researcher in the area of women in leadership, and gender based violence. Phone: +675 3260300 Address: Papua New Guinea National Research Institute P O BOX 5854, BOROKO, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea
One area that presents challenge for democracy is women representation, an important dimension fo... more One area that presents challenge for democracy is women representation, an important dimension for gender equality. However, there are major variations among countries. Papua New Guinea is one of the countries with the lowest number of female representatives in parliament. Two questions are asked in regard to the representation of women. First, why is it difficult for women to be elected in Papua New Guinea? And second, how do we explain where women were able to challenge others to be elected? Formal institution such as the electoral system is just one way to discuss gender equality. There are other areas of gender inequality that interact with the formal system relating to social, cultural, and economic factors. An analysis of these factors shows that even improving formal institutions to increase the number of women in political participation, gender inequality is still a challenge within and outside the legislative office.
Challenges and critical factors affecting women in the 2017 national elections: Case of Lae and Huon Gulf , 2020
Political leadership at the national level continues to be a challenge for women in Papua New Gui... more Political leadership at the national level continues to be a challenge for women in Papua New Guinea. With the current gender gap in the Parliament, we asked two critical questions: why are women not being elected into Parliament? What were the main challenges the female candidates faced during the 2017 national elections? This study was undertaken to enable a better understanding of the barriers to political participation for women. This study documented female candidates’ experiences during the campaigning period in Lae and in the Huon Gulf Open Electorates of Morobe Province. Findings from the study show that despite female candidates’ good campaign strategies, they were faced with major challenges such as gendered stereotype sentiments, cultural perceptions, and money politics, which affect their campaign, and election outcome. The study suggests that approaches to support female candidates to increase their chances of winning should be holistic, inclusive and sustainable; to this end, this report offers several recommendations.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) should be prioritised now
because everyone must access thes... more Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) should be prioritised now because everyone must access these basic services to minimise the spread of COVID-19. WaSH sector is impacted more as water demand increases, soap is needed, and sanitation becomes essential. However, 80 percent of PNG’s rural population and urban settlers are not able to access these critical WaSH services. All stakeholders including government, businesses, media and individuals must work together to create a safe and hygienic environment for everyone. Going forward, the PNG Government must prioritise the WaSH sector by effectively implementing the WaSH policy
Why a temporary special measure is needed in Papua New Guinea's parliament., 2019
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a political history of very low representation of women in parliament,... more Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a political history of very low representation of women in parliament, which demonstrates that it is difficult for women to contest national elections as candidates and more difficult for women to win. Women face immense challenges when contesting elections in PNG and these make it harder for them to get elected. Temporary special measures (TSMs) are implemented in many countries to compensate for structural barriers such as laws, systems and traditional norms that discriminate against women and prevent women from getting elected. It is high time that the PNG government implements a TSM to address the underrepresentation of women in parliament.
One area that presents challenge for democracy is women representation, an important dimension fo... more One area that presents challenge for democracy is women representation, an important dimension for gender equality. However, there are major variations among countries. Papua New Guinea is one of the countries with the lowest number of female representatives in parliament. Two questions are asked in regard to the representation of women. First, why is it difficult for women to be elected in Papua New Guinea? And second, how do we explain where women were able to challenge others to be elected? Formal institution such as the electoral system is just one way to discuss gender equality. There are other areas of gender inequality that interact with the formal system relating to social, cultural, and economic factors. An analysis of these factors shows that even improving formal institutions to increase the number of women in political participation, gender inequality is still a challenge within and outside the legislative office.
Challenges and critical factors affecting women in the 2017 national elections: Case of Lae and Huon Gulf , 2020
Political leadership at the national level continues to be a challenge for women in Papua New Gui... more Political leadership at the national level continues to be a challenge for women in Papua New Guinea. With the current gender gap in the Parliament, we asked two critical questions: why are women not being elected into Parliament? What were the main challenges the female candidates faced during the 2017 national elections? This study was undertaken to enable a better understanding of the barriers to political participation for women. This study documented female candidates’ experiences during the campaigning period in Lae and in the Huon Gulf Open Electorates of Morobe Province. Findings from the study show that despite female candidates’ good campaign strategies, they were faced with major challenges such as gendered stereotype sentiments, cultural perceptions, and money politics, which affect their campaign, and election outcome. The study suggests that approaches to support female candidates to increase their chances of winning should be holistic, inclusive and sustainable; to this end, this report offers several recommendations.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) should be prioritised now
because everyone must access thes... more Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) should be prioritised now because everyone must access these basic services to minimise the spread of COVID-19. WaSH sector is impacted more as water demand increases, soap is needed, and sanitation becomes essential. However, 80 percent of PNG’s rural population and urban settlers are not able to access these critical WaSH services. All stakeholders including government, businesses, media and individuals must work together to create a safe and hygienic environment for everyone. Going forward, the PNG Government must prioritise the WaSH sector by effectively implementing the WaSH policy
Why a temporary special measure is needed in Papua New Guinea's parliament., 2019
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a political history of very low representation of women in parliament,... more Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a political history of very low representation of women in parliament, which demonstrates that it is difficult for women to contest national elections as candidates and more difficult for women to win. Women face immense challenges when contesting elections in PNG and these make it harder for them to get elected. Temporary special measures (TSMs) are implemented in many countries to compensate for structural barriers such as laws, systems and traditional norms that discriminate against women and prevent women from getting elected. It is high time that the PNG government implements a TSM to address the underrepresentation of women in parliament.
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because everyone must access these basic services to minimise the
spread of COVID-19. WaSH sector is impacted more as water demand increases, soap is needed, and sanitation becomes essential. However, 80 percent of PNG’s rural population and urban settlers are not able to access these critical WaSH services. All stakeholders including government, businesses, media and individuals must work together to create a safe and hygienic environment for everyone. Going forward, the PNG Government must prioritise the WaSH sector by effectively implementing the WaSH policy
because everyone must access these basic services to minimise the
spread of COVID-19. WaSH sector is impacted more as water demand increases, soap is needed, and sanitation becomes essential. However, 80 percent of PNG’s rural population and urban settlers are not able to access these critical WaSH services. All stakeholders including government, businesses, media and individuals must work together to create a safe and hygienic environment for everyone. Going forward, the PNG Government must prioritise the WaSH sector by effectively implementing the WaSH policy