UN Women in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology and individual changemakers produced 13 digital stories around the topic of women in leadership. The digital stories support the outreach and advocacy of the Women Make Change Initiative.
Following the 2017 national general election, Papua New Guinea became one of only three countries in the world with no women in Parliament. In the 2022 National General Elections, two women were elected to Parliament, Rufina Peter – Central Regional MP, and Kessie Sawang – Rai Coast MP.
Since gaining independence in 1975 only nine women have been elected to Parliament.
The challenges facing women’s equal and meaningful political participation and leadership in Papua New Guinea are due to a variety of structural, systemic, and cultural factors. Gender stereotypes that relegate women to supporting roles and diminish their ability to serve as political leaders mean PNG is missing out on the positive impact women’s leadership has been shown in different sectors around the world.
Research on women’s political leadership suggests that women are more likely to address issues that directly impact the broader community including employment, infrastructure, education, family policy, and social insurance. The United Nations Women Make Change aims to highlight various ways in which women are serving as leaders in their communities across the country. The 13 digital stories produced by the UN Women project are critical to changing perceptions of women’s leadership while encouraging the support of male advocates to create a more equal society for both men and women in Papua New Guinea.
Following the release of the digital stories, a workshop was held recently at the APEC House in Port Moresby for participants including facilitators to analyze the data collected from the screening of the stories.
The aim of the project is to increase knowledge levels around women’s leadership, create awareness and support networks, and for the individual storytellers to reflect on any actions taken that can support women in leadership.
The digital stories can be viewed on the link below.
Comments are closed.