RESEARCH ON THE MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE PAPUA NEW GUINEAN GOVERNMENT IN SUPPORT OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS

June 23rd 2021

Written by
Francesca Gortan, Gabriella Richardson, Sydney Reis, Tini Pateriya, Chiara Zardoni, Dominique Dimmock

Abstract:

In November 2021, Papua New Guinea will participate in the third Universal Periodic Review cycle conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Council. In light of this, the aim of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of measures adopted by the PNG government during the second UPR, with a focus on women’s rights. Indeed, Papua New Guinea is considered one of the most dangerous places for women in the world and the need to achieve gender inequality is imminent . This paper begins with an overview of current gender issues in PNG related to Gender Based Violence (GBV), politics, economics, health and sorcery and the PNG government’s response to these issues. Next, original interviews and surveys obtained from local PNG NGOs and CSOs are used to understand the problems and challenges encountered when implementing women’s human rights in PNG within the aforementioned government measures. Recommendations and next steps are then provided with an emphasis on providing better funding for already established measures before committing to additional measures.