The National Parliament and Bougainville House of Representatives meeting outlined strategic plan to advocate for gender equality and more women participation in the upcoming elections.
The meeting was held in Port Moresby and facilitated by United Nation Development Program.
Governor Rufina Peter emphasized that experience from the last election indicated the need to start raising awareness and change people’s mindset to advocate for women’s political representation in parliament at the earliest.
“We left it too late to raise awareness. In June 2025, the Bougainville House of Representative will have its elections and the National General Elections will be in 2027. Time is of essence to implement these concrete action plans in advocating for more women political representation in both parliaments,” she said.
The three-day meeting had seen Women’s Caucus Members Governor for Central Province, Governor Rufina Peter, Bougainville House of Representatives Parliamentarians; Deputy Speaker and Member for South Bougainville Therese Naru Kaetavara; Member for North Bougainville and Amanda Masano and
UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Nicholas Booth stated that the Women’s Caucus will have UNDP’s support in working towards the implementation of the strategic plan.
‘’I’m very pleased to see that this declaration and these commitments are moving forward, I want to
celebrate and thank you for producing such a concrete strategy to turn those commitments into
reality,’’ he said.
The establishment of the Joint Parliamentary Women and Caucus in 2023, with the support of
strengthening PNG and Parliament Project through UNDP is a significant step towards fostering
collaboration among female parliamentarians and advancing their agendas.
The meeting was made possible through the generous support of the Australian Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade under the UNDP implemented Strengthen PNG’s Parliament Project.
