Women in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea

There have been 10 women in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975.

NamePeriod of serviceNahau Rooney1977-1987Waliyato Clowes1977-1982Dame Josephine Abaijah1972-1982, 1997-2002Dame Carol Kidu1997-2012Delilah Gore2012-2017Loujaya Kouza2012-2017Julie Soso2012-2017Rufina Peter2022-Kessy Sawang2022-Francesca Semoso2023-

As of 1 February 2019, Papua New Guinea was one of only three countries in the world out of 235 that had no women in its legislative branch or parliament. In the 2017 national election, 165 women ran for parliament out of a total of 3,000 candidates, or five percent. No women were elected, including the three female incumbents.Papua New Guinea’s Parliament Has No Women, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/papua-new-guineas-parliament-has-no-women/ However, in the July 2022 national election, for 118 members of parliament, two were elected. In October 2023, a further woman, Francesca Semoso, was elected to represent North Bougainville in a by-election.

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