Empowering Government officers to advocate for gender and youth inclusiveness in agribusiness policy-making in Papua New Guinea

Wewak, Papua New Guinea – To support government officers and private sector counterparts to mainstream gender perspectives and youth inclusion in the public sector as well as in the agri-food value chains and businesses, the EU-STREIT PNG Programme organised two capacity development workshops in East and West Sepik Provinces. 

Under the theme, ‘Institutional Gender and Youth Capacity Development’ for Provincial Government and local NGO partners and community leaders, the workshops brought together 27 females and 48 males from provincial, district and LLG government offices and private sector counterparts as well as civil society organisations.

The highlight of the training in East Sepik, hosted at the Maprik Resource Centre, was the first official visit of the European Union Ambassador to PNG, His Excellency Jacques Fradin to the host Province of EU’s biggest funded project in PNG and the region, the EU-STREIT PNG Programme.

While addressing the participants, the EU Ambassador said, “I welcome this workshop and all participants as it is a demonstration that gender balance is taken seriously by the authorities, I also welcome the spirit in which this event is taking place. PNG population is made up of both men and women and almost everywhere in the world men and women have equal opportunities, so why not in PNG?” EU Ambassador further stated that if only men were in charge and took the lead, the PNG society will miss the chance of benefitting from all its human values and resources, referring to the women of PNG.

He urged the participants to support each other and work together to create a peaceful and smart society adding that the European Union will continue to support the necessary evolution of the PNG society, in cooperation with the national, regional and local authorities.

The EU Ambassador spoke in response to a welcome speech, made on behalf of the participants Ms Angela Gossiba, a senior female Provincial DAL officer, who posited, “We have come to learn a lot of things from this gender and youth inclusion workshop. Meaning that there are so many things we should have known earlier that we didn’t know. Therefore, we’re so thankful that the EU financed this Programme and workshop that where we have come to understand and realise that gender mainstreaming has been lacking in many of our programs in the country.” Speaking on the PNG’s ranking on the Global Gender Gap, Ms Gossiba added: “We’re placed at the very low level  135 out of 156 countries in 2021. In the Human Development Index, we are ranked 156 out of 191 countries in the 2021/2022 report, which we wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for this training. Also, in the Gender Inequality Index, PNG is ranked 169 out of 191 countries, and at the present pace, it will take two to three generations to close this huge gap, meaning that we have so much work to do in this county to narrow the gaps. This training has come at a very needed time for us to advocate for gender mainstreaming.”

A similar training followed in Vanimo, West Sepik Province, where the Caretaker Provincial Administrator, Dickson Dalle, enthusiastically attended as a participant for the full five days. Addressing the participants, Dalle called on male folks or participants to drive the gender issue in the province, and also undertook to personally lead in all Districts, LLGs and Wards. “I will be in front of the to ensure that we mainstream gender for public servants at all levels of the Provincial. I will be there using some of you to influence our communities to drive the gender issue for an inclusive and sustainable change.”  The Caretaker Administrator also challenged the participants to start advocating for gender from their own homes. “Start with your family. When your family is not a good example, and you go out and tell others about gender, obviously they will understand this mismatch.”

West Sepik Provincial Gender & Women Officer Mrs Elise Sumun also appreciated the training, particularly the discussions on women’s participation in agriculture which she described as “relevant and timely because we’re currently working on a corporate plan as well as on activities that will involve partnering with NGOs to mainstream gender and youth perspectives in the province beyond the EU-STREIT PNG Programme”. 

This is the second phase of the Gender and Youth Capacity Development in the Sepik Region. The targeted participants were those who had attended the first phase of the training in May 2022, consisting of Provincial Government Officers, District and LLG Officers, NGO and faith-based organisations and leaders of relevant implementing partner organisations under the EU STREIT PNG Programme. “The key objective is to strengthen the gender integration capacities of provincial, district and LLG government officers and relevant institutions and private sector counterparts at individual and organisational levels for sustainable agricultural development,” explained Patu Shang, International Gender and Youth Inclusion Specialist of the Programme.  

As a continuation of the first training, topics that were treated in the first session, like Gender and Related Concepts, Conducting Gender Analysis within Organisations, Gender Mainstreaming in Organisations and Developing gender-sensitive value chains (GSVC) using the FAO approach, were reviewed to help participants refresh on lessons learnt. Some new topics were also covered to conclude the modules on Individual and Organisational Gender Capacity Building (Institutional Gender strategy development and planning and monitoring and Youth-Sensitive Value chain development) . After the training, participants are expected to propose Community Gender advocates (CGA’s) from their communities who will be trained by them as facilitators for further gender capacitation in their respective localities. 

The socio-economic growth of Papua New Guinea is driven by the agricultural sector, which contributes nearly 28 percent of the GDP and provides employment and livelihoods for 87 percent of the population in rural areas where women play a quality-determinant role. Yet, women’s contribution is not recognised and they have limited to no decision-making power at different levels of agri-food operation due to stereotyped gender norms and other social and cultural constraints. On the other side of the spectrum are young people below the age of 25, who form about 60% of the PNG population and, thus, the future of food security and nutrition. Yet, few young people see a future for themselves in agriculture in rural areas. The EU-STREIT PNG, therefore, considers gender and youth inclusion as a critical factor affecting food security, nutrition and household incomes, and in its entirety, affects the sustainability of any development effort in agri-food value chains.