Men of honor awards launch

Caption:   Digicel Foundation PNG CEO Beatrice Mahuru (middle) flanked by model men in the campaign and children and staff supporters.

By MATTHEW VARI

Wednesday, August 27, 2014 (Midweek Chronicle, PNG)

DIGICEL Foundation PNG has launched a new campaign in its bid to address gender based violence in the country through the announcement of a first of its kind, Men of Honour Awards initiative.

The awards will be aimed at rewarding men in the country that are contributing immensely to making their communities safer and free from forms of gender violence.

Foundation CEO, Beatrice Mahuru, said that the idea for the awards was hatched during a meeting with sister foundations last year, from across the telecommunication companies markets.

“I was challenge by the Digicel Chairman to organize and do something with regards to addressing violence in Papua New Guinea,” the CEO said.

“As a foundation we do not have all the answers, so we brought together focus groups. We had children aged between 6 and 10, those between 13 and 18, and the adult focus groups- who we sat around and talked about violence in Papua New Guinea and the types of campaign we could use.”

“Every single group we had, even the children identified men as an important part of their families.”

She said that the focus revealed fathers as major focal points in their families.

“The second group of children from high schools were asked who their role models were, and 85 percent of them said their fathers- the other 15 percent said that it was their mothers.

“In all the focus groups we asked if we could use say not to violence as a campaign, or what should we do.”

“But because the focus was on men are an important part of the family going forward, because they are either the perpetrators, or they are the people that are in the small numbers that are doing something different.”

She said the campaign would acknowledge amazing men who are doing wonderful things in their families and within their communities as well.

The men of honour awards will consist of 6 award categories, all of which will consist of various nominations under Sporting Mentor, Community Leadership, Community Entrepreneurship, Community Education Champion, Community Ingenuity, and the 2014 Men of Honour Award.

“We would like to invite the communities to look within themselves to find an honourable person who is doing something- it doesn’t have to be anything big, it is not about achievements but about character,” Mahuru added.

“We want to use positive energy to create the change in Papua New Guinea, which is seeing men as wonderful people contributing enormously to society.”

“If we continue to walk around and villianify all men in Papua New Guinea, then we are not going to make a difference.”

Nominations forms will be distributed as of this week through Digicel distribution outlets as well as over the internet, with a Facebook page to be put up for feedback from the general public.

“Nominations will close before the 2nd December, where an independent panel of judges will be sitting to have a look at the nominations.”

“From January onwards they will be travelling to where the nominees are from to have a look at them within their communities to ask their own questions and get their own facts.”

The foundation CEO added that despite criticism that may arise on the lack of focus on women, she pointed out that the campaign was a new path in addressing the issue from a different point of view targeted at changing and influencing the male Papua New Guineans through other men- something that has often been ignore.