Young women deal with leadership issues

The Bougainville Women’s Federation (BWF) hosted a young women’s leadership forum that saw 150 participants, including representatives from PNG, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, at Arawa last month.
The forum from Oct 23-25 was hosted under the theme “break the silence, hear our voice” to empower young women for leadership roles and programmes in the federation.
The women from four district associations in Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ABG) were there to share their experiences to encourage young women to advocate changes in society for progress.
The president of the young women’s caucus, Henrietta Sinei, said there was good progress made by young women through an ongoing work of the district Young Women’s Association and leadership programme.
Sinei was the first woman to be elected to the Bougainville Women’s Federation (BWF) executive council.
Those who spoke at the forum included Ruby Meringka, of the Bougainville Referendum Commission, Florence Nanai (BWF finance manager) and Mavis Podoloko, from the women’s rights action movement in the Solomon Islands.
They spoke about their journey to become strong and successful young women in their communities after participation in leadership programmes.
Other guests were from the Voice for Change (Jiwaka), Wide Bay Conservation Association (East Pomio, ENB), YWCA (Port Moresby), Eastern Highlands Family Voice and International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Each shared information about their organisations and programmes.