Women empowerment vital: Official

GENDER equality is necessary to build the economy of Papua New Guinea and other Pacific countries that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders say.
Business Coalition for Women (BCFW) executive director Evonne Kennedy said the empowerment of women was necessary “because we need men and women to be productive, entrepreneurial and innovative in order to rebuild our nation’s economy, drive our development plans and thus help us all live in a better PNG”.
Kennedy said this in response to The National’s question on the importance of the 14th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women to PNG.
The virtual event, which started on Tuesday and ended yesterday, brought together Government ministers, academics, community leaders and others to discuss ways to improve the lives of women and children around the region.
“The levels of women’s representation in the Asia-Pacific still falls below the global average.”