Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a small independent nation in the South-western Pacific Ocean, just north of Australia. It occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and hundreds of smaller islands to the east and north. The central part of the main island is high and rugged with jagged mountain peaks separating broad, high valleys. There is an estimated population of almost 7 million, more than 80% of which live in rural areas. 3/4 of the island is covered with dense tropical rainforests and with few roads, travel has always been extremely difficult. This perhaps has contributed to the development of almost 800 individual local languages, some spoken by only a few people. 

Mothers' Union was first established in Papua New Guinea in 1949. The 22,000 members in Papua New Guinea are very active in their local communities, with activities across the country including:

• Adult literacy
• Health programmes (e.g. TB, malaria prevention, HIV/AIDs awareness)
• Campaigning against gender based violence
• Prison ministry
• Hospital visitation
• Marriage counselling