Kidu: Women’s role changing

OPPOSITION leader Dame Carol Kidu says the role of women in the country has changed dramatically since independence.She was speaking to representatives of government agencies and non-government organisations at the Economic and Public Sector
Program (EPSP) Gender Community of Practice seminar on ‘Creating safe spaces in the workplace’.
An advocate of women’s rights, Dame Carol provided an overview of the global context on gender equality and social inclusion. It was a timely discussion about the role of women in PNG as the nation welcomed the election of two female MPs.“Since the time of independence there have been huge changes to the role of women in our society, but we need civil society to push for more progress,’’ Dame Carol said.
“Nothing becomes sustainable unless it is ingrained in our communities and in civil society.
“Our PNG constitution recognises women as equal partners in nation building and as such we must work towards creating safe spaces for women and
men in the workplace.”
She said the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations promoted the concept of gender balance and equal participation in the work place. 
The department has more females employed than males.
She commended the EPSP Community of Practice as an excellent way to bring like-minded people across sectors to make change.The EPSP progrem under AusAID established the gender community practice in 2010 and now involves nine government agencies.