End gender violence: Cardinal

By MOYA IOWA
Archbishop of Port Moresby Cardinal Sir John Ribat is calling on all Papua New Guineans to stand united in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) which he says has become a disease affecting the fabric of our society.
Cardinal Ribat, pictured, said this yesterday when recognising the Father Heart International Programme at the Catholic Archdiocese of Port Moresby.
The programme is a training and mentoring initiative that has been developed by the Christian Life Churches (CLC) in PNG.
It is a programme that will be used to train and mentor men to become real fathers and men in order to improve their well-being, reduce gender inequality and to address health issues.
The programme was launched in September this year and is being piloted in Morobe.
The programme has two parts.
The first looks at training and mentoring of fathers and boys using training modules, while the second looks at putting what was taught into practice.
Men will be taught about their roles as fathers and sons in society, why they were created as men and the Biblical significance tied to this.
They will be taught about respecting women, health issues such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, and how they can better look after themselves and their families.
Cardinal Ribat thanked the CLC for taking ownership and for providing leadership in developing the programme.
He said the secretariat would do its best to promote and share the programme with other churches.