Gender balance in roles

THE Morobe election steering committee has recommended positions of three female assistant returning officers to ensure gender balance in election work, according to an official.
Morobe election manager Simon Soheke said they were still looking for suitable applicants to fill in those positions.
“This is to ensure that there is gender balance in the work that the provincial election office is looking at,” Soheke said.
He also mentioned that during polling the election steering committee approved that there would be 421 polling teams throughout the province.
“From that 421 teams, if a man is the presiding officer, then a woman has to be his assistant presiding officer,” he said.
He gave an example that if a team consisted of seven members, then there has to be 4 men and 3 women or vice-versa.
Soheke said gender equality in election work in Morobe was priority to ensure women were involved meaningfully in election work throughout the province.
Meanwhile, he also gave details that the provincial election officer was confident of conducting election for the newly-established Wau Waria electorate.
“The roll that we will use during the polling there will be the same roll as was used previously with the Bulolo electorate but it will come with a new name which is Wau Waria”
He said the assistant returning officers had been appointed and was waiting for them to be gazetted so they could start performing their duties.

22 women candidates contesting Morobe seats

Twenty-two of the 354 candidates contesting Morobe’s 11 seats at this year’s general election are women.
The Nawaeb open has the most number of female candidates contesting with six, Morobe regional 4, Markham 3, Bulolo 2, Huon Gulf 2 and Tewai-Siassi 2, Finschhafen 1, Menyamya 1 and Wau-Waria 1.
Lae and Kabwum did not register any female candidates for their seats.
Fewer women nominated to contest seats at the 2017 general election in Morobe and none were able to win.
Morobe’s total nominations across its 11 seats are: Morobe regional 37, Bulolo 30, Finschhafen 27, Huon Gulf 30, Kabwum 14, Lae 22, Markham 35, Menyamya 30, Nawaeb 55, Tewai-Siassi 41 and Wau-Waria 33.
Meanwhile, woman candidate for the Nawaeb seat, Edna Yalu Gebob, 32, and from Widuru village, ward 5, Nawaeb, said she had decided to run for office to ensure the people received services.
“While being a woman trying to stand for my people, I have gone through criticism from my own people but these are some things that will make me strong in my aspirations for the district,” she said.
Gebob, who is contesting as an independent, said her priorities were education, health, law and order and church development activities.
The small business owner and accountant challenged all candidates in Morobe to work together and help one another during campaigning and polling periods.
“To the other women who are contesting seats in Morobe, let us make it happen and let our voices be heard,” she said.

Baing focuses on ward level developments

MOROBE regional seat women candidate Jennifer Baing says she wants to create change by attending to the needs of the people at the ward level.
Baing, who had spent the past three years preparing to contest the regional seat on a People’s Movement for Change (PMFC) party ticket, said: “My aim is to work with the people as business partners and build them up to become self-reliant, earning a good living from the resources available to them on land and sea,” she said.
“I haven’t seen any tangible developments at the ward level. I’ve been living in the province for the last 15 years so I know the hardships that mothers in Markham valley face having to live off the land,” she said.
“In terms of implementing the service improvement programme funds (SIPs), there’s nobody going down to the wards and asking the people what their development needs are.
“Running health awareness in different villages through my Non-Governmental Organisation, Save PNG, I have walked and shared stories with the people and I have seen that so many villages are without running water.”
Baing said it was important to know the needs of the constituents at the ward level through participatory and inclusive development planning, done through ward development committees that would create a budget for each of the wards.
“Working through an NGO, there’s only so much you can do and I think the same goes for education so I’m standing because I’m Papua New Guinean and Morobean, and I want the best for our future and our children,” she said.
She said there was a need to invest in ward development planning and budgeting so that projects introduced can be implemented cost effectively.
In preparing for election, Baing began her awareness early, educating people about ward development planning, for instance how cocoa and coffee farmers could increase the income they could make off their land.
“I’ve been actively moving around for the last three years; Morobe’s the largest province so you can’t cover that kind of area in just four weeks. I’ve been telling them how much money comes in DSIP so that there can be accountability held with the people,” she said.