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Abstract
In seven short years, Kup Women for Peace, a community organisation in Papua New Guinea, has gone from tribal peacebuilding to ensuring a free, fair, and violence-free election in one small part of Simbu Province. The organisation's approach was multi-faceted and locally appropriate, enfranchising many women – and educating men – in the process. In a country where women are marginalised in decision-making structures, the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 could have a major impact on democratic processes and good governance.
Notes
1. Bougainville is the largest of a group of islands in the eastern-most part of Papua New Guinea, with an estimated population of 150,000 people. The conflict on Bougainville began in 1989 with a dispute over the earnings and environmental damage from a large Australian-owned copper mine. The issue became a focus for demands for independence from Papua New Guinea. An estimated 20,000 died in the ten-year conflict which also resulted in the destruction of the island's economic and social infrastructures.
2. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign that was initiated in 1991. It is used as a strategy by women's groups to raise awareness about gender-based violence as a human-rights issue and as a collective call for the elimination of violence against women. The 16 Days runs from 25 November, International Day Against Violence Against Women, to 10 December, International Human Rights Day, highlighting the link between violence against women and human rights, and that such violence is a violation of human rights.
3. The 2007 elections for the national parliament of Papua New Guinea used the limited preferential voting system. This system requires the voter to make three choices of candidates. For a candidate to be elected under the LPV system, they must receive more than 50 per cent + 1 of the total formal votes cast in the election to gain an absolute majority (PNG Electoral Commission Citation2008).