Chief of Defence Force Rugby Cup Tournament 2023

Santos Foundation Programme Manager - Gender, Toviraka Amona and Morobe FSVAC Coordinator, Thelma Hungito along with PNGDF Gender Committee Rep, Major Louisa Wanma.

‘Happy Home, Healthy Mindset, Mission Focused’ Campaign 15 – 16 July

The Power of Partnerships

The Chief of Defence Force Rugby Cup Tournament was an opportunity to elevate the profile of family and sexual violence within the Force, and build partnerships between the private sector, government institutions and the civil society organisations. Santos, through its subsidiary Markham Valley A/R (Afforestation/Reforestation) Project (formerly known as PNG Biomass Project), and the Santos Foundation worked closely with the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) Gender Committee, the Morobe Family Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) and Femili PNG to bring awareness to troops, their families, and the public during the tournament in Lae.

Addressing the troops

The awareness at Igam Barracks on Saturday 15th July was led by Major Louisa Wanma, a member of the PNGDF Gender Committee. She introduced the awareness campaign and the theme “Happy Homes, Healthy Mindset, Mission Focused”. The session covered the following key elements with an introduction from Major Wanma and included discussions on the Family Protection Act, acts of domestic violence and forms of violence. The sessions were delivered by the Morobe FSVAC Coordinator Thelma Hungito and Tovi Amona Program Manager for Gender, who discussed positive ways of dealing with stress to minimise resorting to violence. Santos Foundation helped develop the awareness presentation pack for the PNGDF Gender Committee to use as part of its family & sexual violence (FSV) awareness throughout the different PNGDF locations, going forward - something the gender committee is quite thankful for.

The awareness campaign provided an avenue for the PNGDF Gender Committee to make their troops aware of the Committee’s objectives and inform the troops and their families of the support available to them.

Bel isi PNG

As Santos Foundation Program Manager for Gender, Tovi is also managies the Bel isi PNG program. While in Lae, on Saturday, Tovi was asked by Westpac to deliver a 30-minute presentation to their Lae staff on FSV and Bel isi PNG. As a Bel isi PNG subscribing company, this was an opportunity to also bring awareness to Westpac Lae staff on FSV and available support services in Lae. The presentation took 30 minutes, with 10 minutes Q&A.

Community engagement

The general awareness delivered on Sunday 16th July for the public attending the tournament. Children had separate sessions with discussions centred around their rights and responsibilities and a brief discussion on the Lukautim Pikinini Act. At the end of each session, questions were asked and children who gave the correct answers were awarded with a Santos rugby ball. Adults who were interested in learning more about FSV were given information brochures on the Family Protection Act, FSV and pamphlets on information for the FSVAC and Femili PNG. Over 200 people were reached throughout the 2 days awareness raising.

Visiting Markham Valley A/R Project staff

On Monday 17th July, the team travelled to the Markham Valley A/R Project in the Lae office and to one of the nursery locations. The aim of this session was to increase staff understanding of FSV and the support provided internally within Santos and also externally in the Morobe Province. There were more than 50 staff who attended both sessions.

It was an interesting weekend with different partners working together to bring awareness on family and sexual violence, especially the different forms of violence and the support available internally within organisations and externally with other partners.

This was a successful outcome thanks in part to the power of partnerships