The Girl Guides Association of Papua New Guinea is the Guiding organisation in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Founded in 1927, the girls-only organization became a full member of the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

in 1996. It has 1,890 members (as of 2017).

History

The Association was founded in

Hanuabada Hanuabada is a coastal village in Papua New Guinea in the outskirts of the nation's capital, Port Moresby. It is the biggest village in the Motuan tribe and is often known by its locals as "HB". Hanuabada means "big village" (''hanua'' "village" ...

in 1927 by a missionary, making it one of the oldest youth organizations in the country. Groups spread to other village, and in 1933, the first Ranger company (for those aged 16 to 22) was started. Membership was 120 by 1939, but activities ceased from 1942 and 1945 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Activity resumed in 1946. The Association was considered a division of

Girl Guides Australia Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Girl Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to empower "girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world". Membership is open to all girls and young women from al ...

at the time, as Papua New Guinea was controlled by Australia, but it became its own branch in 1955. It became fully independent in 1976, after Papua New Guinea's independence, and it gained associate membership with the

in 1978. At that time, both the Girl Guides and the Boy Scouts of Papua New Guinea were criticized by Hironobu Shibuya, the director of the

United Nations Information Centre The United Nations Information Centres (UNIC) were established in 1946, headquartered in New York, United States. Spread across 63 countries worldwide. These centres, until 2018, facilitated the exchange and sharing of current global events on be ...

in Papua New Guinea, for not including culturally relevant training.

Enny Moaitz Enny Moaitz (born 1940) is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was Premier of Morobe Province from 1987 to 1988, becoming Papua New Guinea's first and only woman Premier under their former system of decentralised provincial government. She was als ...

became involved with the Association in 1973 and was the first chief commissioner at independence. In 1996, the Association became a full member of the World Association, and at that time, membership was 613. As of 2017, there were 1,890 members. The Association closed for six years from 2016 to 2022 due to "internal matters".

Activities

Due to the high diversity of the country, including the many

languages of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, a sovereign state in Oceania, is the most linguistically diverse country in the world. According to ''Ethnologue'', there are 839 living languages spoken in the country. In 2006, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael So ...

, developing projects that fit the local needs of the community is encouraged. The Association aims to provide girls with training in homemaking activities such as cooking, sewing, and home management. A hostel was opened by the Association in 1987 and provided shelter for 60 girls who were working. In 1990, a literacy badge was introduced to help combat low literacy in Papua New Guinea during International Literacy Year. Solar cooking has been one initiative of the World Association since 2006, and Papua New Guinean Girl Guides have taught classes on it in various parts of the country.

History

Activities

Sources

See also