Papua New Guinea
Population Media Center is developing two radio serial dramas in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The dramas will address issues such as gender equality and women’s empowerment, education, family planning, HIV/AIDs prevention, environmental protection, and other related themes. This project has been adopted under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Campaign in PNG.
Papua New Guinea, an island in the Pacific just north of Australia, is only slightly larger than California in land mass, yet may be one of the most culturally diverse places on the planet. It is estimated that there are 864 unique languages spoken throughout the country; that’s 12% of the world’s languages. More than 80% of people live in rural areas, and because of the extremely mountainous terrain, many tribes have little or no contact with each other or the outside world. In fact, radio is often the only link in these widely scattered and isolated settlements with low literacy levels.
The cultural diversity of the country is matched only by the biodiversity of both the land and the sea. It is estimated that 5% of the world’s biodiversity is found in Papua New Guinea. The waters of Papua New Guinea harbor hundreds of species of fish, including a number of species that do not exist anywhere else in the world.
Papua New Guinea is a country of 6.4 million people and is growing rapidly. Papua New Guinea’s total fertility rate of 4.4 children per woman is among the highest in the Pacific Region. The human population dynamics are working against the long-term sustainability of the country. Thus, the population growth and related poverty of the country is contributing to widespread environmental pressures. Addressing rapid population growth, contributing factors such as violence against women, and other related social and health issues such as HIV/AIDS is crucial to improving the overall health and well-being of people in Papua New Guinea.
About 70% of men and women in PNG know of a source of contraceptives, while current use of modern methods is about 25%. The leading reasons for non-use are the desire for more children and lack of information. There is a critical need to change social norms with regard to ideal family size, acceptability of family planning, and self-efficacy with regard to decision-making about family matters, and to provide correct information regarding the relative safety of contraception compared to early and repeated childbearing. Addressing these cultural and informational issues can best be done through carefully designed communications programs.
To address these issues PMC is in the process of developing two Sabido-style radio serial dramas, one to be broadcast nationwide in Pidgin and another in English. Through the broadcast of these serial dramas, PMC hopes to reach a large percentage of the population and have a significant impact on a range of social, health, and environmental indicators. Given the complexity of language and culture in Papua New Guinea, Population Media Center also plans to produce and broadcast a weekly talk show on each of the provincial radio stations where listeners can call in and discuss issues raised in the dramas. The purpose of these talk shows is to make the stories and information more accessible and relevant to life in each of the provinces.
PMC’s project has been adopted under the UN Communications Strategy. This means PMC will be positioned as an implementing partner for part of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals Campaign in Papua New Guinea.
In June 2008, The New York Times published a story on the disappearing forest in Papua New Guinea. Based on new satellite images, it was found that Papua New Guinea is losing about 1,400 square miles of rainforest, or about 1.4% of its total forest cover, every year. At this rate, by 2021 more than 80% of the country’s accessible forest and more than half of its total forest area would be badly degraded or cleared. Not only does this threaten the millions of species of plants and animals that exist nowhere else in the world, but it threatens the way of life in Papua New Guinea and greatly increases vulnerability to erosion and depletion of soil nutrients. Clearing the forests for agricultural use has become one of the main threats, and high population growth rates are seen as one of the main causes.
Similarly, exploitation of marine and other natural resources is, in part, a reflection of traditions that were sustainable when Papua New Guinea was less populous. The negative practices also reflect a combination of ignorance and poverty that lead people to adopt unsustainable practices, such as overfishing. Role modeling sustainable livelihoods and practices can bring about changes in behavior to reflect the reality of life in Papua New Guinea today and what must be done to preserve its resources.
Support for PMC’s program in Papua New Guinea is being provided by The David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Population Services International (PSI), BeMobile, and The United Nations.
