YWCA and ExxonMobil run Mentorship Training for Women of LNG-impacted Villages

With the support of the PNG LNG Project, ExxonMobil Limited, forty (40) women from Porebada, Boera, Papa, and Lealea are now ready to drive social change in their communities after a week-long training for mentors held by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of PNG.

The operator is providing programs and training which are helping women to gain the confidence and skills to play a greater role in the workforce and their communities.

“Through our partnership with YWCA PNG, we are contributing to the efforts that give women opportunities to develop leadership skills, and acquire mentoring support that inspires them to contribute positively to their communities,” said ExxonMobil PNG’s Operations Technical Manager Melissa Bond.

At the program’s closing ceremony, a participant from Boera Village, Lily Homoka, thanked ExxonMobil PNG and YWCA for the knowledge imparted to the women,and encouraged the women to take what they’ve learned back to their communities and share with other young women and men.

Executive Director for YWCA PNG, Diane Kambanei  also expressed gratitude to ExxonMobil PNG for supporting this training program.

“It is heartwarming to know that ExxonMobil PNG is making an outstanding contribution to helping women and youth in PNG fulfill their potential and serve as drivers of both economic and social change in their communities,” said Ms Kambanei.

The mentoring training has groomed the 40 women to be mentors who will then guide and support YWCA to run the Rise Up training targeting young women between 15 and 30 years of age. The YWCA aims to train 120 young women and 40 young men from the four Plant site villages by 2017.

This training is a lead up to the Rise Up Project which is an initiative aimed at educating and empowering young women and girls to lead change in their society by creating safe spaces for them. To date, 110 young women and men have been skilled through this training.

Source: ExxonMobil