We Didn't Wait. We Took Action. We Didn’t Ask For Permission. We Pushed For National Change.

It is an honor to stand at the Global Dialogue on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Our journey is not manufactured—it is organic.

It began on the streets of Port Moresby, marking International Women's Day, National Women's Day, and the 20 Days of Activism.

Through our health, fitness, and wellness initiative—the Active City Development Program—we turned awareness into action.

When violence against women spiked in Papua New Guinea, that grassroots momentum birthed the Parliamentary Coalition Against GBV. From the Coalition, we pushed further—securing a Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV in the 10th Parliament. In the 11th Parliament, we transformed that into a permanent institution: the Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.

This is not donor-driven. This is national traction—built from our own initiative, responding to real needs and brutal challenges and the call of our National Constitution for Integral Human Development and Equality and Participation of all citizens of our country

In the last five to six years, we have witnessed unprecedented commitment from Parliament and Government to changing the status of women and girls.

Today, we join parliamentary colleagues from across the region and the world at Women's Deliver 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. We are here to share our story—and to learn from theirs—so we can strengthen and expand the vital work still ahead for our nation, Papua New Guinea.

HON POWES PARKOP, LLB,LLM, MP

NCD Governor.