Social Anthropology Departmental Seminar -- Dr Mary Fairio "Wok bung wantaim (working together): Women associations and foreign aid in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG)".

Abstract

Despite an increase in aid assistance, women continue to struggle to be recognised as leaders in formal spaces in Papua New Guinea (PNG). So, I ask: how do women themselves organise? And do aid agencies understand (or fail to understand) women's lives and community work? This presentation is based on 15 months of fieldwork that explored women's associations, and their roles in Lae city and the peri-urban Markham Bridge community, Morobe Province. My findings show that women associations utilise local approaches of wok bung wantaim (working together) and givim bel (giving without expecting anything in return) to organize themselves; and local women leaders are key actors in shaping aid negotiations and outcomes for women leadership programs. Therefore, local women leaders are catalysts for social change who must be involved in aid projects from their beginning.