Papua New Guinea Women Candidates Training Strategy
1st Round - Candidate & Campaign Manager Regional Training Workshops:
Highlands - Mt Hagen | 30 January - 3 February 2012
Southern - Alotau | 13-17 February 2012
Momase & NGI - Madang | 5-9 March 2012
In the first quarter of 2012 CDI conducted three 5-day training workshops as the first round of the Papua New Guinea Women Candidates Training Strategy (WCTS). The Strategy is a joint initiative between CDI and PNG’s Office for the Development of Women (ODW, an agency within the Department for Community Development). In addition, regional CSO partners have been engaged to assist in the identification of suitable participants and handling local logistics.
The three workshops were held in Mt Hagen (30 January to 3 February), Alotau (13-17 February) and Madang (5-9 March). Over 100 participants attended the workshops, which was for intending candidates and their campaign managers.
The workshops were led by CDI Associate, Dr Norm Kelly, and facilitated by PNG trainers who had attended a CDI Train the Trainers workshop in 2011. In Mt Hagen, Norm was assisted by Dr Lesley Clark, a former Queensland state MP and trainer for the ALP. The regional CSO partners were the Highlands provincial Councils of Women. Dr Orovu Sepoe, also a CDI Associate and respected PNG academic, assisted Dr Kelly in Alotau where administrative and logistical support was provided by Papua Hahine, the regional CSO partner. In Madang, the workshop was also led by Dr Kelly and Dr Sepoe, and facilitated by PNG trainers Erigeri Singin, Meredith Tutumang and Nora Kapari. The regional CSO partners for the Madang workshop were Soroptimists International and the Namatanai Cultural Council of Women.
The workshops covered the fundamentals of campaigning, including: developing and delivering a message; creating a campaign team structure, plan, and timetable; fundraising and budget management; public speaking; Limited Preferential Voting and electoral laws; and the roles of an MP.
A second round overflow workshop for candidates and campaign managers was held in late March in Port Moresby, and the final stage of the Strategy for these participants was a series of Progress Checks held in mid-April prior to the issuing of the writs for the election. These progress checks were an opportunity for candidate-campaign manager teams to have their revised campaign plans and budgets assessed, and to engage in further, more individualised training.
Click on the links below for all the materials and details of the 1st round regional training workshops, along with links to reporting on the 2nd round/overflow training workshop, the 3rd Round progress checks, and the preceeding foundational WCTS workshops and WCTS support announcement from the Australian Prime Minister:
