Comments

Thanks for this post. I wonder whether it is possible to do an analysis of the extent to which labour hire companies fulfill their pastoral care and employment obligations - or if such an analysis has been done? I believe the SWP is extremely important - but the stories we hear from time to time of labour hire companies not fulfilling fairly basic obligations does disturb me - particularly during the pandemic.

It certainly is a well balanced and sensitively written article Dr Kama. We are onto getting it across PNG and to regional media too. One wonders though do issues on gender based violence need more and more exposure or is it time for a rethink/overhaul of programs working on transformational changes in this space. Be interesting also to see what amount of donor dollars for instance gets spent on GBV programs across the region and if any quantifiable change has resulted to that culture of violence that dominates our societies in the Pacific. Maybe it needs men prone to violence and those that care about men's lack of control, to take ownership of this violence and look within on why they're violent and that too against those that are closest to them, their partners and children? There has to be preventive measures as with NCD's for instance and not just care post the violence, no? It's a pretty messed up world, given all its vulnerabilities, as we see with COVID-19, when we need increased protection from ourselves and fellow humans, let alone our supposed loved ones too. And then we have those such as in Fiji, who will glorify and forgive rapists because they're a talented rugby player! But that's an outrage for another day.

An important article, clearly written and well-balanced on a sensitive issue. It will be good to have DevPolicy-UPNG organise with the local newspapers to get this published.

Thanks for this excellent Blog Geejay. GBV is an issue all over the world, but definitely a lot more serious in PNG than the rest of the Pacific. Why? What is so different about PNG compared to the rest of Melanesia? How can society clamp down on GBV?

Thanks Bennie for your insights, and for the leadership role that you (and Debbie Kapal and Joe Koima) have played to help FPDA align its practice to the National Standard. Trupela CDW.

I would like to get involved at the board or committee level for development of standards etc... How do I join? Thank you

The following resource from the Pacific Hub at Griffith Asia Institute provides a detailed survey of Covid19 specific aid provided to Pacific island countries - it covers grants, debt forgiveness, concessional finance and donations in kind: https://www.griffith.edu.au/asia-institute/partnerships-collaborations/pacific-hub/coronavirus-aid-in-the-pacific

Bennie agree.

This is a interesting topic. The question is how does community development programs within companie led activities alignment with government development plans such as the SME in all projects areas and the Centre for Excellence In Financial Inclussion (CEFI) programs sanctioned by the Central bank of PNG. Community development has been a very good tool but they are all to do with programs supported by the company and how that will be sustained appears to be an issue. For resource sector mobilization of formally organize group.has been a problem for all sectors especially the mining and petroleum sector. Program owner is not with the community whilst training and support is provided by the company and community development some times are company initiated. The Marape Steven government is talking about SME and support for SME program and how community development programs can be aligned for sustainability of company initiated program my acheive better result. Companies involved in community development programs should now change their mind set and change from individual, company - focused wealth creation to a collective investment with shared purpose and vision. It provides social license as well as true support for sustainable development. John I Tambiabu. Social License Engineer (SLE)

Awesome job Chris, Rebecca and the team. The CDW National Standard has a lot of success stories and has play a vital role for change in some of the rural communities and with people I have worked with. Sustainability of any development in communities relies on good community engagement and community participation. Many project fails because of poor community involvement. Therefore, I suggest this CDW National Standard to any development organisation or agency to try adopt the approach when engaging with communities to do any development work. To achieve PNG vision, we needs to start turning development expectations around; communities, groups, individual and families need to be empowered to start leading their own development and is through the simple CDW approach that will create pathway for change.

Great to see a first lot of organizations both in public and private getting involved. CDW national standards delivers impact when it is applied within an established system with strong backing from the leadership of these organizations. Kudos to these organizations championing the CDW national standards as it shows their commitment to delivering quality outcomes for the communities they work with. It will be great to see more organizations join the CDW national standards. There are a number of ways to participate in the CDW standards. (1) Get your staff to participate in CDW training so they can share their experience on how it works. (2) Get your organization to organize CDW training for your staff so you get to experience its practical application in the community. (3) Organise a study tour to exchange learning from the experience of these organizations who are already applying these standards out in the communities or in their place of work. This ensures the CDW standards are shared widely across sectors and cultures. Credit to the leadership of these organizations on setting the pace in this space. Looking forward to following these standards as it evolves.

I am yet to consult the purported legislation but my query relates to the government's support to improve the level of performance by the existing institutions. If the proposed law is deemed to be a law that will address the country's endemic corruption, bribery and other fraudulent crimes, what is the justification there that the new baby will be well nurtured by the Father? ICAC is a very good tool but in the circumstances of PNG, I doubt that it will be another bastard kid. Government has seen the breakdown of the discipline and performance level of the state agencies. One major obstacle is the failure to sufficiently fund the agencies to perform their duties. ICAC is very suited to Hong Kong and a few other countries and I would say it is attributed by their strong leadership, discipline and support. As a corruption fighter in my own right, it saddens me to see complaints piling up on the reason that there is insufficient funding to competently and diligently attend to this thus denying our citizens the assistance they deserve. Therefore there is no guarantee that ICAC will address the problem but just another giant that will suck the milk out.