THE Government, through the National Executive Council (NEC), has confirmed the appointment of Mr Jerry Wap as the director of the National Office for Child and Family Services for a term of four-years starting this year (2026).
Mr Wap, from Kandep in Enga Province, was acting in the position since June last year (2025) following the passing of late former director Mr Simon Yanis.
Mr Wap was among four other senior government executives that signed their contract-of-employment before Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the Government Haus in Konedobu today (Thursday, 27th August, 2026).
The contract signing ceremony was witnessed by Department of Personnel Management (DPM) secretary Ms Taies Sansan, government officials, family members and friends.
Following the signing of his contract, Mr Wap thanked the Marape-Rosso Government for his appointment and pledged to do his best to ensure the National Office for Child and Family Services (NOCFS) achieves its key mandates.
“I would like to sincerely thank the Government of the day, the National Executive Council and the Prime Minister for placing their trust on me by appointment me to this important position,” Mr Wap said.
“I will do my best, with the support of my dedicated officers, to see that all key programmes and functions of the Office are implemented and achieve results,” he said.
“We have done a lot of good work already over the course of the last 12 months and we will continue to do so and push ourselves further in the coming years,” Mr Wap said.
He explained that, going forward, the key priorities for his administration would be to;
• Continue enhancing child protection programmes in the country.
• Continue with the rolling out and establishment of the Provincial Child and
Family Services Council.
• Establish a Child and Family Service Centre.
• Continue addressing the street children issue.
• And restructure and right-size the Office for productive output.
“Child protection is not an easy task; there are lots of work to be done, but with my appointment, the government has given me the mandate to ensure we lay the foundation of this important sector,” Mr Wap said.
“Children are the future of our country so if we get child protection right, our future will be in good hands,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Wap said some of the other achievements of the NOCFS under his leadership
included establishing a number of Provincial Child and Family Services Councils, relocating to a new modern office and launching the Out-ofHome Care Standard Operating Procedure manual to regulate Out-of-Home Care Centres.