24 September 2014

Bougainville and Australian women MPs meet in partnership for democracy

Women parliamentarians from Bougainville and Australia are meeting in Canberra this week to share knowledge, build links and contribute to the development of parliamentary democracy in the Pacific.

Minister Rose Pihei, the Hon. Joan Jerome and the Hon. Elizabeth Burain have travelled to Australia under the Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships program to observe Australian Parliament and meet with women federal and state MPs including the Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop.

The MPs said that they’re looking forward to discussions with Australian parliamentarians on Bougainville’s economic development and peace building, and building greater opportunities for women’s leadership.

The three Members of the Autonomous Bougainville Government House of Representatives met with Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ms Deborah Stokes, in Port Moresby on their way to Australia.

The Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships program brings together parliaments and supporters of parliamentary democracy across the Pacific region. The program aims to build the capacity of women parliamentarians in the Pacific, the institutions in which they work and the staff who support them, so that women parliamentarians can exert their influence to their maximum ability, and raise issues that affect other women and their families in their constituencies.

The program is funded under the Australian Government’s Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development Initiative. The 10-year initiative recognises that women’s influence through leadership positions is vital if Pacific women are to participate as equals in the development of their countries.