Motu-Koita Assembly praised for championing women

THE Motu-Koita Assembly in the National Capital District is a champion of women empowerment in the country, says former Moresby South MP Dame Carol Kidu.
She was addressing an election diagnostic workshop for women candidates who contested the 2018 Motu-Koita Assembly.
The workshop was supported by the Department of Pacific Affairs of the Australian National University to understand the experiences and the challenges women faced during the election.
“One of the realities is that the Motu Koita-Assembly is the champion for women empowerment in PNG.”
She said the MKA Act had two reserved seats for women – in Motu-Koita East and Motu-Koita West.
“And I think we need to re-emphasise on the need to reserve seats for women in our national Parliament,” Dame Kidu said.
The assembly has 17 seats. Two are reserved for women and the other 15 is open to for both men and women to contest.
Dame Kidu said they would be comparing the results of the assembly election diagnostic with that of the national election “to identify some of the issues and the challenges women face and how they can be addressed to empower women in politics in PNG”.
One of the women candidates for the Motu-Koita West seat Mae Isaac said the law recognised women by reserving two seats for them.