Why A Temporary Special Measure Is Needed In Papua New Guinea’s Parliament

Why A Temporary Special Measure Is Needed In Papua New Guinea’s Parliament

This paper is based on a desktop review and findings from a study carried out by Fairio and others on women in the 2017 national elections and women in the local-level government elections.
The study finds that women face immense challenges when contesting elections. The continuous trend of underrepresentation of women in parliament is a major concern for PNG as a democratic nation. Without any interventions to address the gender gap in parliament, this trend is likely to continue for the next 40 years too. A holistic approach, especially political will and support, is needed to improve the under-representation of women in parliament. This paper emphasises the need to implement a TSM to address the long-standing under-representation of women in the PNG parliament.