PNG's youth speak out.

Source: http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/profile.aspx?id=Jenny%20Hayward-Jones

The Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program convened its second PNG New Voices conference in Port Moresby yesterday. We assembled a group of interesting and passionate young people with strong views about the future of their country. They spoke on a range of topics across three key themes: Papua New Guinea's relations with its neighbours, responsible sustainable development and new political engagement.

A PNG New Voices panel session on sustainable development (Andrew Gavin/Kate Uvia) 

Papua New Guinea's relations with its Melanesian neighbours are complex. PNG appears to be somewhat ambivalent about its membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. Contributors suggested the government does not involve the people in its management of relations with Melanesian neighbours, leaving some to wonder what the benefits of trade agreements and intra-Melanesia labour mobility agreements are for Papua New Guinea.

The question of support for West Papua was a controversial one. Many Papua New Guineans have sympathies with the independence movement in West Papua but contributors argued the government puts its relationship with Indonesia ahead of popular interest in supporting fellow Melanesians and ahead of lining up with fellow Melanesian Spearhead Group members.

We collaborated with Tanim Graun, a PNG version of the ABC's Q&A program, which looked at the future of the informal economy. Participants quickly renamed the informal economy as the 'people's economy' given that the vast majority of Papua New Guineans are engaged in informal economic activity rather than employed in the formal sector.

Despite the continuing resources boom and forecast economic growth of 21% in 2015, participants acknowledged there would never be enough jobs in PNG's formal economy to support the population. The first shipment of LNG from PNG in the past week has made international headlines but after the construction phase, LNG projects will not deliver the number of jobs required to meet the high expectations of Papua New Guineans.

Increasingly, salaries in the formal sector are insufficient to support the rising cost of living in urban areas in Papua New Guinea, particularly in Port Moresby. Participation in the informal economy, including in activities like selling betel nut (which is now officially banned in Port Moresby) is needed to subsidise the formal economy for many families. Speakers remarked that the systems around transporting and selling betel nut worked better than those for most other goods in PNG. 

The private sector voice was articulate and impassioned at the conference. From more than one contributor we heard that the private sector is bearing the brunt of the apparent decline in educational standards in recent years. Significant investment is required in developing personnel, including those who have graduated from tertiary institutions, in order for them to be fully productive. Some businesses are compelled to buy-in talent or skills from overseas, which has the knock-on effect of putting up their prices. This has impacts in the wider business community.

Suggested solutions included short-term work placements in Australia that could be funded by the Australian aid program in the case of small and medium enterprises (SME); degrees undertaken in Australia could include a year-long work placement to expose PNG students to Australian standards and practices; and private sector peak bodies such as the PNG Chamber of Commerce to be consulted as part of the process of awarding scholarships to identify skills most needed in the labour market.

A strong sense of national identity is often hard to find in Papua New Guinea, where clan, cultural and linguistic identities typically are more important than association with the nation. One speaker, ardent about building national identity, reflected on the factors that made Papua New Guinea unique. PNG is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse nations on earth, with approximately 850 spoken languages. 'Wantoks' (people from the same area or speaking the same language) and large extended family and clan connections are central to society and also provide a social security system where no formal one existed. While these connections were special for PNG, building a national identity would not be possible without higher education standards which allow for better discussions about identity and development.

Reflections on the looming referendum on the future of Bougainville and some unresolved issues from the conflict prompted discussion about the need to prepare for Bougainville's independence, as well as the national identity questions for PNG that would follow what is now an unthinkable prospect for PNG authorities.

Much is expected of PNG's young people. Yesterday's discussion proved that the country's future leaders are already thinking about how to change the country.

Image courtesy of Andrew Gavin.

Social/Community Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

PNG NEW VOICES CONFERENCE

Port Moresby, 29^th May 2014

National Research Institute Conference Room

Plenary Session:  Responsible sustainable development.

Speaking Topic: Social/Community Entrepreneurship and Innovation 

A Talk by Reuben Mete

PNG Consulate-General HE Sumasy Singing;

Retired General Jerry Singirok;

Organizers of the event – Lowy Institute and National Research Institute;

Dignitaries;

Moderator Mr. Paul Barker, Executive Director of Institute of National Affairs in Papua New Guinea; and

My fellow Leaders of Papua New Guinea.

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak at this conference today. This morning I do not wish to be dramatic, but would like to gently draw our attention to an issue that I believe really matters most to our heart–innovation in sustainable communities on a more rural perspective.

Responsible sustainable development is a developing country’s phenomenon and can take us a whole year discussing it. I do not wish to raise my voice in the issue of sustainable developments now and again, all I want is to create PNG, a nation where ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainability’ doesn’t need people to talk about.  The whole reason why we have to discuss this now is I believe human beings are now putting dollars and cents before common sense. Mining industry have been working on sustainable development policies but still have a lot to improve on. The onus, however should not be on investors but on Papua New Guinea to develop own policies and regulations to guide sustainable development.

It is not my intention to justify the level of expectations our rural communities have on sustainable development as many have lag behind basic developments.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the village where I came from we usually walk eight hours even to date to access basic services such as health, education and manufactured goods.

Background

We recently saw the launching of the first shipment of liquefied natural gas of the PNG LNG project.   The Elk/Antelope Gulf LNG and Stanley Gas projects are also coming up. We got Solwara 1 deep sea mining project being the latest to join the mining industry. All of these new projects as well as the existing ones are anticipated to propel our economy.

PNG has a population estimated to be a little over 7 million. Despite significant resource wealth from minerals, oil and gas, forestry and fishing, the vast majority of our population still lives a precarious subsistence farming existence with little or no access to the provisions of a modern state such as education, healthcare, sanitation or infrastructure such as roads.

The feeling is that if they are giving the miner the gold from their land, they are expected gold in return – gold in the form of hospitals, schools, compensation for their customary land.

In his speech to the 30th Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo,  Cairns Australia, Sam Koim, Chairman of the Task Force Sweep says and I quote - “I have however noted that globalization has not only marked a new phase in the development of capitalism in our country, it has accelerated the pace of social change. It has infested the desire of individuals and groups to amass wealth. What globalization has not done, among the developing nations such as ours, is the attitude - the desire for capacity building, entrepreneurship, enterprise, productivity, critical knowledge-leadership qualities, hard work, competitiveness, introspection with regard to developing indigenous knowledge and technology. It has robbed the developing nations the traditional culture of independence in productivity, communal efforts at development, crafts and guild production, disorganized the traditional agricultural and production systems that hitherto ensured food on the table of every Papua New Guinean and has rather diverted attention of the people to importation of finished goods, service industry and established the culture of consumerism, dependence and luxury.”

Social Enterprise

Watut River Development Limited (WRD) is a not for profit 100% locally owned social enterprise aiming to add value to the lives of every Papua New Guinean by providing high quality water supply and sanitation at an affordable cost. Given the reality that 4.2 million people in Papua New Guinea do not have access to clean water supply system; WRD has identified the only 30% of the entire 7 million population has access to clean water system and sanitation.

Building infrastructure is a major issue for the Papua New Guinea Government as it takes responsibility for the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure in difficult terrain which is high.  The government and the Papua New Guineans believe that if entire infrastructure plans were implemented it would be unaffordable.  Although foreign investments and donor funding was highly sort after, there was some capacity within Papua New Guinea to provide affordable Water Supply and Sanitation and this is where WRD comes in to play.

We believe that rural and remote communities needed to see more of the benefits of national economic growth, and resource sector-driven growth and we believe we can achieve this by providing quality Water Supply and Sanitation to every Papua New Guinean in a little way we can. Big problem have big solutions too. If I don’t give back to my communities, I wonder who will be able to give back to his or her communities. We need you, you can join us and that is why I come here for.

We are now working on to upscale our programs to service the entire Papua New Guinea population through our Lutheran Youth Network. Which has well over 500,000 youth membership untapped and that is the big advantages we now have to enhance our program going rural. We do not believe in getting donor funding assistance but we believe in providing opportunities and powering local Changemaker to bring change back to their communities. Local problems have local solutions and thus needs people within to drive that change that they themselves wanted to see.

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

My participation in this information pool through ICT has had a lot of benefits to me as a person and also to others through the organization. I believe with ICT, we cannot find remoteness/ rural and isolation as Technology help us build a better World.

The media landscape is now changing rapidly with the arrival of social media. It also presented an opportunity for everyone to get their message to public sphere. I have to thank Digicel for its monopoly service in this rural communities include mine where we usually walk to hours uphill to access its crystal clear coverage’s and have access to ICT.

Conclusion

As I come to a close of my talk, I hope you’d appreciate some contributions our new generations have been doing. In so doing, I have drawn only the social or community entrepreneurship and innovations from my past experiences to share some lights to your thought that Papua New Guineans have potentials to help reaching the unreached and touching the untouched. We should now give the people access to learn for living, than they can make change in their communities themselves. I am glad to say here that the process to do so has already begun.

Thank you for listening.

God Bless you all.

  

Biography

Reuben Mete is the Director of the Youth Desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. He is also the President and CEO of the Union of Watut River Communities Association Inc and Managing Director of Watut River Development Limited, a social enterprise that works in partnership with Morobe Mining Joint Venture to provide clean water and sanitation supplies to rural communities.

Reuben was previously a Spark* Changemaker and President of the PNG University of Technology Morobe Students and Staff Association. Reuben strongly believes that Papua New Guinea needs to invest developing sustainable rural communities where every individual has access to basic health and education services and a reasonable income.

All views expressed on this paper are the opinions of the individual   author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion or position of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. 

A Young Person’s Perspective.

Changes and Challenges that are happening in Papua New Guinea.

  

Growing Economy.

Papua New Guinea face challenges in managing the decline of a long resources boom and asserting our place in an increasingly global economy. Raw mineral resources and agriculture dominate in the export profiles of Papua New Guinea which makes it relies heavily on imports of manufactured goods and pharmaceuticals. Papua New Guinea faces greater test in balancing the economies. Channeling revenue from mining into other national priorities is proving difficult.

Regulatory inconsistency and social reluctance were identified as key barriers. China’s economic influence in Papua New Guinea was growing. The PNG government was pursuing deeper economic ties with China. The PGK6 billion loan facility that the government negotiated with China was meant to provide a funding source for major infrastructure projects. But it is not clear whether PNG would be able to access the full extent of this loan.

Public attitudes in Papua New Guinea toward China and Chinese business were changing. There was still evidence of some local hostility towards Chinese business. But the behavior of Chinese companies in Papua New Guinea was improving. They were learning how to work with local communities and doing it better than in the past. For Papua New Guineans, dealing with Chinese companies was not so different from dealing with Western, European or other foreign companies. A number of SMEs were now choosing to source supplies from China rather than anywhere else in the world. Western and European goods were less competitive and there were signs of a wider shift in sourcing. Chinese companies had established good links with rural trade store owners. There was a risk, however, that all local retail and service deliverers would eventually be owned by Asian companies, crowding out Papua New Guinean small business owners.

While there have been suspicions and concern about Asian investment in PNG, particularly in logging, this is likely to dissipate over time. Asian companies have begun to outperform Western and European companies on issues like environmental compliance and social responsibility. They are also quick to respond to community concerns, admitting wrong-doing and compensating before problem grow, whereas Western and European companies were perceived to be slower in responding to problems or taking responsibility for environmental damage.

In Australia, the Lowy Institute’s annual public opinion polling showed persistently negative perceptions of China. Australians were nervous about levels of China investment and perceived China as a military threat.

Resource industry and rural development

Most rural development initiatives in Papua New Guinea were based around mining projects, palm oil and logging. Most of these projects were foreign owned. This meant that Papua New Guineans were largely not participating in the development of the nation.

Papua New Guinea had for the most part developed good relationships with mining companies. But regulation of the resource sector as not strong. Many mining companies including Australian companies did not apply the standard of their home countries to their operations in Papua New Guinea.

A major difficult for rural people in Papua New Guinea was the lack of policy safeguards for vulnerable communities against natural and human-inspired disasters. Compensation and handouts from foreign companies were making people lazy. Where there was no ownership, there was no sustainability.

Encouraging greater participation from the young people in growing the economy and attracting investment will be critical. In that regard, increasing access to lending services was seen as important. Papua New Guinea banking system could not meet the lending needs of the population. Much informal lending and borrowing takes place outside the banking system. Making better use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) service to improve lending services will be important if more rural are engage with the economy.

Approximately, 85 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s population lives in rural areas but government service delivery to rural communities was poor.

Agriculture

Agriculture was a sleeping giant for Papua New Guinea. Developing the agriculture sector should be a national priority.

Papua New Guinea customary land ownership system provides a significant safety net against external shocks through guaranteeing access to food sources. But it also proved to be an obstacle for landowners seeking loans to establish business, as customary-owned land in Papua New Guinea could not be used as an assert in the formal financial system. Papua New Guinea farmers could currently earn a reliable living wages from agriculture. If Papua New Guineans could be confident of earning a living wage in agriculture, they could reduce their reliance on the customary land ownership safety net. 

 Sustainable development

Papua New Guinea represented nations within a nation, a land of over thousand cultures and languages. Papua New Guinea did not have viable sustainable development policy. The government’s Vision 2050 plan could be described as a ‘happy document’ which did not contain a sustainable development policy or provide any clear road-map for Papua New Guinea policy planners.

The mining industry was working on sustainable development policies but had a long way to go. The onus, however, should not be on investors but on Papua New Guinea to develop its own policies and regulations to guide sustainable development.

Investment

Negative and often incorrect international perceptions about Papua New Guinea put constraints on encouraging foreign investment. Such perception were skewed by statistics and unfortunate news stories and are unlikely to shift until pioneering companies invested and changed them. ExxonMobil’s decision to invest in LNG, for example, changed international perceptions about Papua New Guinea and encouraged other companies to invest.

Business could make better efforts to publicize their success in Papua New Guinea. The sovereign wealth fund was as important as ExxonMobil’s LNG project in informing investor views of Papua New Guinea.

Politics

There was increased apathy amongst youths towards politicians but not political issues. The disengagement of youths is essentially an indication that young people feel political parties are not listening to them. Politics tends to be dominated by rich white men who claim Melanesian ‘big man’ status and this create a degree of disengagement.

The quality of democracy has been declining in Papua New Guinea. The parliament opposition was small – numbering only five members of parliament; and unable to hold the government to account. It could not lead to kind of debate on legislation that was required and this risked abuse of process as the government did not face much scrutiny. Government members of parliament tend to become project managers of district funding programs rather than legislators because this offers more direct engagement with their communities and opportunities to prove they can deliver. Citizens have forgotten about the supporting pillars of democracy which now operate on the periphery and instead focus on politicians’ activities. For example, during the August 2011-2012 political dispute between Prime Minister O’Neill and former Prime Minister Somare, the public debate focused on the personalities of the two leaders rather than the legal and constitutional questions that were at the heart of the dispute.

Politicians sought to disparage the role of the media and anti-corruption bodies in Papua New Guinea, which undermined their role in supporting a vibrant democracy. This was a particularly problem because the role of media and civil society in holding the government to account was even more critical now while the parliament Opposition was weak. Targeting individuals was unlikely to succeed in fostering a better quality of democracy but reforming the ‘macro-democratic’ environment held more promise.

In Papua New Guinea, voters were more concern about the direct benefits on offer from individual politicians. This makes politicians focused more on what they could deliver directly to communities rather than explaining policies to voters.

While people in urban areas in Papua New Guinea had contact with government, it was important to remember that most people in rural areas had no exposure to government. Their experience of government tended only to coincide with general elections, held every five years. Politicians were elected from the sphere of the village, which was consistent with most Papua New Guineans’ experience of living only within a village, rather than a national context. But voters found it difficult to hold their representatives to account when they went to Port Moresby because the national sphere was so big and complex. Individual Members of Parliament simply took power away from the village.

While increased connectivity, mobile phones and social media could go some way to improving knowledge about the activities of Members of Parliament, it was no replacement for their spending more time in districts they represented.

Media

The media landscape in Papua New Guinea was changing rapidly with the arrival of social media. The ability of Papua New Guineas to access Facebook on their mobile phones had transformed national conversations. Mobile phone network provider Digicel had recognized this and was launching its own news website. But as internet penetration is still low, traditional media continued to be important.

The fast-changing political landscape offered an opportunity for social media and for traditional media in Papua New Guinea. Media was no longer a resource-intensive industry. The fact that big institutions no longer controlled the public message was a big change. The proliferation of mobile phones and growth of 3G allowed more people to interact with each other. People living in rural or remote areas now had an opportunity to guide what the media does. Social media presented an opportunity for everyone to get their message into the public sphere.

Outsiders’ perception of Papua New Guinea.

Outsiders or foreigners perception of Papua New Guinea were very narrowly based. Media reporting on Papua New Guinea focused on mining, corruption and a limited number of other issues like crime and sorcery. It was very difficult for journalist to sell a Melanesia story. Even serious investigative programs like the ABC’s Four Corners struggled to promote Papua New Guinea stories.

Promoting Papua New Guinea literature, arts and sports was one way to capture attention. Using creative media like film and television to portray Papua New Guinea characters could also assist.

Infrastructure Challenges

Building essential infrastructure was a major issue for Papua New Guinea. The lack of national infrastructure affected investment, government services and community development. Roads, bridge, wharves, jetties, government building and utilities infrastructure were all essential to ensure services were delivered. Responsibility for infrastructure was divided in Papua New Guinea.  The national government managed high-cost national roads like the highlands highway. Provincial roads were mostly funded and maintained by the provincial governments.

The cost of building and maintaining infrastructure in Papua New Guinea’s difficult terrain was high. Responsibility for transport sector was split across a number of agencies, which did not coordinate to deliver infrastructure services. A number of provinces were only accessible only by air and rural airstrips required heavy maintenance. There were no clear government guidelines for infrastructure spending, which unfortunately enhanced the opportunities for politicians to engage in pork-barreling. The procurement process was complicated. The government requirement to obtain three quotes for contracted work was unrealistic in remote areas. While foreign aid played an invaluable role in supporting infrastructure building, the nature of aid program requirements meant that technical staffs were often pulled away from important work to write reports for donors.

If all the infrastructure plans on the government’s agenda were implemented it would be unaffordable. There was a need for more advanced thinking on developing infrastructure in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is an island nation that relies on sea lanes for trade in goods. Inefficiencies and higher cost in shipping meant shipping companies pass on cost to consumers.

Agreements between mining companies, government and communities in Papua New Guinea usually refer to infrastructure and developments. Memorandum of Agreements could be structured to ensure mining companies take direct responsibility for maintaining local infrastructure rather than channeling funding through the government. This would help to ensure better maintenance of infrastructure as mining companies have vested interests in this; governments do not.

Although foreign investment in infrastructure was highly sought after, there was some capacity within Papua New Guinea to fund national infrastructure. Papua New Guinea two major superannuation funds, NASFUND and Nambawan Super were large, highly concentrated pools of wealth. There was a strong drive in financial circles in Papua New Guinea to make infrastructural and socially responsible investments in Papua New Guinea, which represented a paradigm shift for investors, who had previously focused on safer investments abroad. A big issue for funds going forward was liquidity.

Climate and infrastructure

Decisions on building infrastructure have traditionally been based on the assumption that future climate will be the same as past climate. Much of the Department of Work’s infrastructure was spent on emergency repair, rather than maintenance or adaptation work that took account of the climate.

Papua New Guinea lagged behind other national best practice in managing climate risk to infrastructure. The United Kingdom and New Zealand, for example, were further ahead in managing climate risk to infrastructure and populations, and Papua New Guinea could learn from them. Papua New Guinea has acknowledged the need to adapt to climate change but has not resourced government agencies appropriately.

Data Collection and infrastructure

Problems with data collection presented particular problems in Papua New Guinea. It was impossible to design appropriate and resilient infrastructure without relevant data. In the health sector, there are variances with data collection by national and provincial governments, hampering effective planning. Foreign investors have withdrawn from potential major infrastructure investment in Papua New Guinea because of the lack of reliable data.

Health and education innovations

Poor data on Papua New Guinea’s demographics was a major constraint on developing effective education and health policies. There were very serious gaps in delivery of health and education services in rural Papua New Guinea. Capacity building for local people to provide services in rural areas was important. A large number of rural education and health services have been closed because teachers and health workers not from the local area were quick to live when infrastructure failure or law and order problems arose. Ownership at a local level also brought more effective oversight.

Education

Papua New Guinea government’s has made a decision to provide free primary education. Although the decision was good in theory, it had created further problems for a sector already under enormous strain. Many schools in rural areas lacked the resources they needed and the government was failing to supply them. Demand for education rose when the government abolished fees and class sizes grew. Students to teacher ratios were far too high. There were not enough teachers and retaining teachers in remote areas was problematic. The teaching of English was inadequate, resulting in students being poorly equipped for further education or employment. The number of spaces at universities and colleges was also low for a country of Papua New Guinea’s size.

The provision of free education made it more difficult to develop community engagement and ownership, which was an important element of oversight. An opportunity cost of more children going to school in rural areas was a decline in household agricultural income as children were no longer at home to help their parents with agricultural work.  This was a difficult trade-off.

While the Papua New Guinea government lacked capacity at a national level to deliver services, it supported the functions of provincial and local governments. Improvements in service delivery had been achieved through reforms to inter-government financing. Churches were very effective deliverers of education and health services and were supported financially by the government to continue their work. Mining companies assumed responsibility for delivering education and health services in districts where they operated and they coordinated with government in this task. The mining industry also provided scholarships.

Improving internet services would be a boon to the education sector in Papua New Guinea as access to international sources would enable teachers to keep up with international education standards.

Greater accountability was required to ensure government monies were being spent in the way the government claimed. An online mechanism called ‘rate my school’ being used in the Philippines, where parents and students volunteered to carry out audits of schools to published online, was raised as potentially useful for adaptation in Papua New Guinea.

Beyond formal schooling, the use of creative media was an important tool in promoting understanding and educating people. In Australia there are regulations about levels of Australian content in broadcasting, which encouraged producers to reflect Australian identity. Making local content could create heroes and inspirational targets and assist with national-building.

Health

There were also insufficient health workers in Papua New Guinea. There is one medical school in Papua New Guinea, which takes only 40 students a year. More nursing colleges were required.

Non-government organizations and community based organizations also played an important role in supporting health services. Many of the Non-Government Organizations receives funding from respective government departments and donors. But despite their success and widespread demand for their services, their capacity is also strained. Many rural individuals who have volunteered to help their community wanted formal employment and the organization has limited funds, a situation to many community-based organizations.

The application of health models that work in developing countries to the Papua New Guinea context was not straight forward and sometimes inappropriate. There are emerging technologies that could be applied and lessons learned internationally that could be readily adapted in Papua New Guinea, without the need for foreign professionals that to share their knowledge in person. For example, Papua New Guinea’s health professionals could benefit from accessing Free Open Access Medication education, a continually expanding database of medical resources online.

Gender-based violence

Gender based violence was a major constraint on development in Papua New Guinea. Community education that focused on prevention of such violence was rare. Social marketing that sought to change behavior had to be partnered with community-based long-term education programs.

Expanding people-to-people relationships

Papua New Guinea who studied in foreign countries t any level has developed friendships with that particular nation that has endured. This is particularly true of Papua New Guineans who went to high school in Australia. Enabling connections between children at a young age is as important as university scholarships in developing better mutual understanding. For example, using children’s literature to promote reading stories about Papua New Guinea can start at a young age.

The electronic media sector offered some opportunities for bilateral collaboration. Digital partnerships also assist newsgathering and social connections.

Bringing together various initiatives, dialogues and conferences could help reducing duplication of effort to empower our youth in youth participation, employment and eco-justice.

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reuben Mete is the Director of the National Youth Desk of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG). Prior to joining the ELCPNG, Reuben was an officer to the Ministry of National Planning and monitoring serving the Ministry for two years. He was also the CEO of the Community Based Organization called the Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated for five years which gave him opportunity to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2011 South Pacific Mining and Mining Policy Conference in Noumea, New Caledonia. In March 2013, Reuben represents Youths of Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Conference of Churches 10^th General Assembly which he participated as an official delegate in Honiara, Solomon Island. He also represent South Pacific in a month long International Youth Leaders Consultation in Germany in mid 2013 and was part of the inaugural Australia-Papua New Guinea Young Emerging Dialogue team which engaged in bilateral dialogue in Sydney and Canberra in Australia  in November 2013. Reuben holds an International Awards from Spark* International in 2012 as a local Changemaker and a social entrepreneur and identifies himself as a grassroots leader.

The views expressed in this paper are entirely the author’s own and not those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. 

Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue

2013 Australia Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue participants

I am so humble to have represent Papua New Guinea to participate in the inaugural Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue which was held in Sydney and Canberra, Australia from 26 to 28 November last year 2013.

 

The dialogue comprises 20 emerging leaders from Australia and Papua New Guinea which we met at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney to discuss issues on Growing the Economy and Attracting Investment in the Asian century, Politics and Accountability, National Infrastructure Challenges and Reform and Innovation in the delivery of Health and Education services.  We also had the opportunity to met Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP following the formal Dialogue on 26 November.

 

Delegates from Papua New Guinea, including myself also participated in a separate program of visits and briefings in Sydney and Canberra on 27 and 28 November.  This program included meetings with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Papua New Guinea’s High Commissioner to Australia, the Australia National University, the Australian Council for International Development, the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the Australia-Papua New Guinea Business Council, New South Wales Trade and Investment and a visit to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory and the Legislative Council of the New South Wales Parliament.

I now look forward to be part of the network that Lowy Institute is establishing to encourage the development of wider people-to-people links between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Mete welcomes participation in Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue.

Community Development advocator Mr. Reuben Mete has welcome the invitation by the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the Government of Australia and Papua New Guinea to participate in the Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue that will be hosted in Sydney during the week of 25 November 2013.

The Dialogue was an initiative of Australian and Papua New Guinea Ministers who agreed at the 2012 Papua New Guinea-Australia Ministerial Forum that Australia would host an annual Emerging Leaders Dialogue to enhance and promote people-to-people links in a new generation of Australians and Papua New Guineans.  The Dialogue is being conducted in cooperation with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and with the support of the Australian aid program.

It will bring together 20 emerging young leaders from the private sector, civil society, and government in both countries of Australia and Papua New Guinea who will meet to share ideas and discuss priority on national issues for both Papua New Guinea and Australia.  These will include, growing the economy and attracting investment in the Asian Century, national infrastructure challenges – new approaches, reform and innovations in the delivery of health and education services and politics and accountability with new expectations.

The Dialogue is an opportunity to form enduring professional connections with other emerging leaders. The aim is to create a network of alumni from the Dialogue to enable ongoing communication between emerging leaders from Papua New Guinea and Australia.

“I am happy to participate and to share my knowledge and ideas as well as engage with the experience of other participants. The Dialogue is indeed a great opportunity to share and learn about practical, innovative solutions and insights into the challenges facing Papua New Guinea and Australia,” Mete said. “Following the Dialogue on November 26, I am grateful to be given an opportunity to meet professional counterparts and state government representatives in Sydney, as well as to participate in policy briefings in Canberra by which Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is expected to attend.”

Mr. Mete pledge to participate and associated closely with the Lowy Institute’s planned PNG New Voices Conference in Port Moresby in the first half of 2014 to offers further networking opportunities with other emerging leaders from Papua New Guinea. Mr. Mete is hoping to take part in this opportunity to engage with other emerging leaders from Papua New Guinea and Australia. Mr. Mete is expected to arrive in Sydney on Monday 25 November together with other Papua New Guinea delegations and returning on Friday 29 November 2013. He will be talking about rural economies (agriculture/working with mining companies) – a subject we could fit into either the topics of ‘growing the economy’ or ‘national infrastructure.’

Lutheran Life Care undergoes weeklong planning workshop on HIV and AIDS.

By Reuben Mete
 

The Lutheran Life Care (LLC), an arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC PNG) has been undergoing a weeklong planning workshop that begun on Monday 21^st and will continue on till Friday 29^th of October 2013. The aim of the workshop is to transform LLC activities and guidelines after realizing a drastic increase in HIV and AIDS epidemic in Morobe Province and Papua New Guinea in 2011 and 2012 analyzed data.

 

Lutheran Life Care is a ministry to propagate the Gospel of Christ as a Lutheran Christians as being justified by faith. It comes under the Evangelism Department of ELC-PNG which its current program is the HIV and AIDS. LLC was established in 2004 after ELC-PNG recognizes the changing environment concerning the HIV and AIDS in Papua New Guinea.

The Faith Base Organization acknowledges that HIV and AIDS is a treat to our nation and its development prospect as a whole as well as building its capacity to address the epidemic and to be a partner in the response.

Mrs Amad Uma, LLC National Coordinator in her opening remarks on Monday says Lutheran members within this country should now take the ownership of this program to see its continuation into the next few years. She also thank the Church Partnership Program under Aus AID to fund the programs over the past years and also provide funding assistance for the Evaluation, Reflection Workshop and now planning.

The Planning Workshop was well attended by the LLC Program Coordinators and officers from the Evangelism Department of ELC PNG and facilitated by the Melanesian Organization for Development (MODe). Department Secretary Rev. Binora when welcoming the workshop participants says Lutheran Church is not an emotional church but a faith church thus the workshop should reflect on the Bible teachings and guidance.

Incoming ELC PNG National Youth Director Mr. Reuben Mete says the rate by which the epidemic is growing in Papua New Guinea is very alarming at the moment. He says with the given figure of 416 new HIV positive cases detected in 2012 within Morobe Province, the province is now sitting on a time bomb.  “This clearly shows that there has been a social breakdown within all our communities despite Lae city being the Head quarter of many Christian denominations including the ELC PNG,” Mete says.   

Drug producers wants alternative life.

Part of the Workshop attendants who surrender and accept
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and wanted Change.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC PNG) through Evangelism Department under Social-Concern Division and Youth Division with assistance from Community Development and Land Rights Advocator Mr. Reuben Mete have embarked on a mission to reduce the negative impact of Drug and Alcohol that has posed in Papua New Guinea communities. The team strategically aims to teach, inspire and motivate mostly the young generation of PNG out of the Marijuana culture which has rooted in many societies.

The ELC PNG team piloted the campaign in Rihona Memorial Circuit of ELC-Kainantu District in the Eastern Highlands Province on the 25^th to 30^thAugust 2013. Rihona in the Dunatina Local Level Government is known to be the first and also the major centre of marijuana production and distribution in PNG.

The week long program of the interactive workshop and awareness involves mostly the youths, helping them to understand the negative social impacts of drug and alcohol on the societies and negative health impact drug and alcohol have on human body. The awareness was facilitated by ELC-PNG Social-Concern Director, Rev. Sere Muhuyu with accompanied powerful and inspirational bible studies by Rev. Matei Ibak at a self-built Youth Development Centre of Rihona Circuit, Hagere village.

One of the Marijuana Growers, consumers and distributors
who surrender his old habit and wanted alterative living.

The workshop identified and categorized the 121 participants into three groups. The first group being the non-marijuana consumers, non-producers and non-distributors while the second group being the distributors. The final group consists of producers, consumers and distributors.

The group members were given opportunities to share their insight after being made aware of the many negative impacts they have posed on their societies thus it was an emotional sessions when some even wept openly and went down on their knees to apologies, confess and seeking God’s forgiveness after realizing how much negative impacts they have caused to the society and the country at large.

Rev. Muhuyu said the way forward now is to really help these young people become positively participate in the socio-economic development of their societies after they have willingly and fully give up on these negative attitudes. It is important to effectively isolate them and rehabilitate them for some period of time and to strategically refocus their energy and potentials on other positive economical activities. The youths can also be train and use as vibrant advocators against marijuana to also have more impact on others.

Rev. Sere Muhuyu pointed out that to achieve this it needs collaborative support from concerned government agencies, churches, NGOs and other organization. “We all need to mobilize resources together to see a positive outcome to this long dilemma that has decayed our society” Rev. Muhuyu said.

“We are expecting multitude of young people involved in marijuana who will be willing to give up these habits; but how do we move forward with them once they confess and express their willingness to contribute meaningfully to the society? This is the challenge we have before us and may God help us move forward with whatever resources we have” Rev. Muhuyu expressed.

"The successful outcome of this one week workshop is a result of a long and close interaction with the ELC-PNG National Youth Office through Ps. Matei and the youth leaders in ELC-Kainantu district and Rihona Memorial Circuit"

The Social-Concern Division and the Youth Division of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC PNG) now extends an invitation to all stakeholders interested to work together with them to reduce the impact of marijuana in Papua New Guinea Societies.

Community Development and Land Rights advocator Mr. Reuben Mete who was the guest facilitator in this weeklong workshop said the National Youth Office wanted to assist the surrendered youths to be more economically independent and more self sustainable and by getting them permanently out of Marijuana by giving them vegetables seedlings, appropriate agriculture tools and opening up vegetable markets for them as well as monitoring and evaluating the initiatives but this arrangements and plans cannot be implemented well given the minimal funding available, thus we now seek kind assistance and supports in cash or kind from any interested individuals and stakeholders to make it into a reality.

Contact Reuben Mete on mobile phone 72522667 or email reubenmete@yahoo.com.au for further information and or assistance.