Young women urged to join movement

THE executive director of Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in PNG Diane Kambanei is encouraging women between the ages of 18 and 30 to join the movement.
“YWCA is part of a global movement set up to empower women and established in PNG in 1962,” she saidm, adding that it has give branches in PNG with presence in 120 countries.
Kambanei said the YWCA PNG branches were located in Kundiawa, Goroka, Lae and Tabubil.
She said membership fees were K5 for students and K10 for others.
Membership is open to both men and women, however women make most decisions and design programmes.
Kambanei said YWCA also has a sexual reproductive health programme aside from leadership training because globally YWCA was focused in providing safe spaces for young women.
She said the world office in Geneva have scholarships available for members to apply for and they also pay for a young woman to participate in the Status on the Commission of Women in New York.
She told The National one of the challenges they faced as a non-governmental organisation was lack of government support.
“The Government sets policies but in terms of implementation the NGOs and the civil society implement them and they needed better coordination and backing.”