International Women’s Day has become a global celebration for women around the world, including Papua New Guinea.
The Department of Works celebrated the Day with Minister for Works and Implementation, Francis Awesa, in a small ceremony, to commemorate the day.
Women were encouraged on being empowered to be leaders of change.
The Department of Works took time out to commemorate International Women’s Day, and to also acknowledge the women who are contributing to the department and the development of the country.
Female staff from the department, with their male counterparts took the day off from work to celebrate with the theme of 'Empowering Women as Leaders of Change'.
Minister for Works and Implementation, Francis Awesa, who was there for the celebration, said recognizing and celebrating the day, provides opportunities for the government and the department, to identify and address women and gender issues, and to promote equality.
He also added that the O’Neill-Dion government had made advances in the issues faced by women in the country, and have allocated two departments, to address this issue.
He said violence against women is the major barrier in PNG, however, the government is committed to human rights, and although is a challenging issue, he says the government is willing to take up the task.
Senior Principal Account of the Department of Works and Women Representative, Judith Seta, on behalf of all the female staff, encouraged the theme for the day, saying that empowerment starts individually, but would also like the department to create policies for women empowerment in the Department.
Women are capable of change, and although Papua New Guinea has a long way to go to achieve a sense of equality, women have been, and still are contributing to the development of the country
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cxwc3UupOm0%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
