By GEORGINA MICHAEL
The British High Commission in Port Moresby today congratulated the two winners of the “Diplomat For A Day” essay competition.
Thw competition was launched in November 2025on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Young women in PNG were invited to write essays under the theme, “My Voice Our Future: Ending Digital Violence Against Women and Girls in PNG.”
From a strong field of inspiring submissions of 80 plus , two outstanding submissions were selected, Ms Shonaye Leslie and Ms Toa’Lea Saguba, both of whom have now successfully completed their two days placement at the British High Commission.
British High Commissioner- designate His Excellency Paul Eastwood congratulated the participants and encouraged them to be more visible and vocal champions for young women and girls around the country.
“The theme of this year’s competition is both timely and critical. Enduring that women and girls can participate safely and confidently ok n digital spaces is essential to building a more inclusive and equitable future. The UK remains firmly committed to promoting the rights and equity of women and girls around the World who are at the heart of the international development reforms recently announced by the UK Foreign Secretary.’
“I warmly congratulate Shonaye and Toa’Lea on being selected as this year’s winners. Their thoughtful essays and advocacy were truly inspiring. We had two highly engaging and productive days with them to be visible and vocal champions for young women and girls around the country.”
The political officer at the British High Commission Ms. Kelly-Anne Charlie, then explained that the girls have completed the first part of their winning serving as diplomats at the British High Commission from the 25- 26 of March 2026 and will further represent Papua New Guinea at the Women deliver 2026 conference in Australia.
“The two winners will further represent Papua New Guinea at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference in Melbourne, Australia, where they will join young leaders from across the region to advance discussions on gender equality and women’s rights’ said Ms. Charlie
The girls stated that they were over exited when they found out that they won the competition because when writing the essay they just wanted to share their ideas and views on women and girls facing digital violence on the different online platforms without realizing that their essay would stood out in the future.
The girls encouraged and reminded the young women as well as men across the country to always remember that information is power and people should start reporting accounts with inappropriate contents.
“We should stop the spectator attitude that we have about going online seeing something online and then ignoring it, we should feel responsible to report the bad contents that are being posted online.” Said Ms. Saguba
” Have the hard conversations, don’t shy away from issues that are at hand , stay informed, be proactive and be vocal about it. With every little skill that you have, use it in a way that becomes a tool for change. Information is power when you give power to the wrong kind of information, you make it grow a lot more than you do the right time and so pay less attention to the wrong sort of information,” Ms Leslie said.
The British High Commission also extended its appreciation to those young women who took part in the competition to share their thoughtful and deeply inspiring voices in the essays to contribute to shaping a safer digital future where women and girls can thrive both online and offline.