By LORRAINE WOHI
STATISTICS from the Public Service Commission as well as the Department of Personal Management has indicated a low number of women applying as heads of departments and provincial administrator in the Public Service Sector.
This was made known following the second hearing of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender Based Violence held in Port Moresby on Thursday March 3.
Chairman of the Inquiry and MP for Alotau, Charles Abel raised concerned on the low number of women as heads of Department and Provincial Administrators.
He said given the 94 thousand employees in the public sector, 38% of that potion are women.
Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Apeo Sione said in most of the positions that are being advertised, women applicants for the top post in government agencies do not reach the shortlisting process.
He told the committee that to date, they have recorded no female Provincial Administrator in the years 2020 and 2021.
“In the Provincial Administrations in 2020, there were five appointments that were made and out of the five there were no female,” Sione said. “In 2021, there were three females, none were being shortlisted that came before us.”
DPM Secretary Taies Sonson said in 2021, out of 82 applications for nine senior executive positions that were advertised, 78 applications were male and only four for females.
”In the recent advertisement in 2022 January, we received 74 applications total for 10 executive positions that were advertised and 72 were male applicants and only two were females.”
Secretary Sansan said all applicants for the executive positions are based on merit and all goes through the normal process where there is an equal playing field for both men and women.
“For the last five years there was an increase in the Deputy Secretary level for women public servants but not reaching the top in leading the agency,” she said.