THE National Office for Child and Family Services (NOCFS) had achieved another significant milestone last Friday with the official opening of its new office and the unveiling of its new uniforms.
In a small but significant ceremony, Minister for Community Development Jason Peter cut the ribbon to the door of the new office and declared it opened.
The new office is located inside the DFC Building situated along Kumul Avenue in Waigani, National Capital District.
The Minister later cut another ribbon to unveil the new work uniforms for NOCFS officers. The new uniforms, produced locally, consists of executive-ware suits for males and females.
The event was witnessed by Department of Community Development Secretary Mr Jerry Ubase, Chief Censor Mr Jim Abani, National Youth Development Authority Director-General Mr Joe Itaki, United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund’s in-country Chief Child Protection officer Ms Paula Vargas, Save the Children country Director Ms Lisa Piper, NOCFS Chief Executive Officer Mr Jerry Wap and other distinguished guests.
Speaking during the occasion, Minister Peter challenged NOCFS officers to improve their performances now that they have a new office.
“I’d like to congratulate the National Office for Child and Family Services for the opening of this new office,” Minister Peter said.
“In the old office, when I come around, I often see officers not at their workstations. With this new office, things must be different. In this new environment, all of you must be here and work,” he said.
“You have only 33 current fulltime staff but if you look at the issues facing children in Papua New Guinea, it is so huge. As your Minister, I expect everyone to work closely together to address issues affecting children in our country,” Mr Peter said.
“This new office will provide the foundation for child development in this country. It is an important office,” he added.
Meanwhile, NOCFS Chief Executive Officer Mr Wap thanked the Department of Finance’s Government Office Allocation Committee (GOAC) for ensuring that, among many government agencies and departments, the NOCFS was allocated a new office.
“The NOCFS has been on the corridor for many years, but at last we have our own office. This gives us the strength and encouragement to do our jobs better to protect children in the country,” Mr Wap said.
“In the past, the lack of a proper office space acted as an impediment for us to fully implement the Lukautim Pikinini Act (2015).
With this new office, we are looking at restructuring the organisation and fully implement the LPA going forward,” he said.
The NOCFS is occupying levels one and two of the new building.
Level one comprises of the agency’s programs and client services divisions while level two houses the executive and corporate services divisions.
The public can now access child and family support services at a clean, modern and friendly environment when visiting the NOCFS.