Welcome to Episode 83 of Good Will Hunters from the Development Policy Centre. Today on the show I speak to Ofa Guttenbeil-Lilkiliki and Konnie Yoifa.

Ofa is a women’s rights activist and filmmaker from Tonga. She has advocated for equality in women's economic and educational empowerment, in their political involvement and representation, in land reform, protection from violence, and has advocated for the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women for over a decade. She has twice been nominated for the U.S. Secretary of State International Women of Courage Award (2012,2013) recognising her work in advocating for women and childrens rights in Tonga.

Ofa and I discuss the Women and Children’s Crisis Centre in Tonga, and their work to support women who have experienced violence, whilst simultaneously advocating for policy reform at a national level. You can learn more about Ofa and the Centre via these links:

https://www.spc.int/sdp/70-inspiring-pacific-women/ofa-guttenbeil-likiliki

https://www.tongawccc.org

https://devpolicy.org/tongas-double-whammy-covid-19-and-tropical-cyclones-20200422/

Konnie is the Port Moresby Director of Femili PNG (pronounced 'Family PNG'). Femili PNG runs runs Case Management Centres to assist survivors of family and sexual violence to access the services they need. Their target population is women, men or children who are survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, sorcery accusation related violence and/or child abuse. Konnie and I discuss the extent of gender based violence in PNG, particularly in light of recent news events relating to Debbie Kaore.

You can learn more about Femili PNG via these links:

https://www.femilipng.org

https://devpolicy.org/femili-png-hiring-in-canberra/femili-png/

To learn more about gender based violence in the Pacific, visit the Devpolicy archives:

https://devpolicy.org/tag/gender-based-violence/

Enjoy the episode,

The GWH Team