My fondest memories whilst growing up are those of sitting huddled around the fire, roasting freshly harvested corn over the open fire whilst trying to keep up with the animated stories of my family. The stories over the years have created a sense of appreciation and pride in the resilience of my people. For thousands of years we have mastered the wisdom of the universe and have lived in harmony with the environment. We have been able to build thriving communities so unique in their own ways that we have an oasis of diversity. The late Sir Bernard Narakobi, in his book ‘Melanesian Way’ said;
“A long time ago, our people discovered the secret of life — live well, love well, have something good for every person and die a happy death”
Our ancestors understood the importance of balance and of respecting the interdependence we had with each other and the environment. Our leaders planed and made decision based on respect for the people’s wishes and environmental sustainability.
In our diversity, we have also established common values that help to define us as Papua New Guineans. Our values, ideals, beliefs, morals and standards both individually and collectively form the foundations of sustainably, were daily actions were done for the collective benefit of the community, the environment and the future.
Before independence in 1973, our founding fathers travelled the length and breadth of this nation to capture the thoughts of our people on what they thought should be the defining values of our nation. Using their thoughts, our founding fathers enshrined in our constitution and five National Goals and Directive Principles which called for:
- Integral human development
- Equality and participation for all
- Enhancement of national sovereignty and self reliance
- Responsible management and use of natural resources for environmental sustainability
- The Papua New Guinean Ways
We had big hopes when we gained Independence; we saw a development pathway that had its foundations in responsible sustainable development, staying true to the values of our society. We however, lost our way a bit along the way and started to venture away from our values to pursue unstainable models of development.
Our leaders in 2009 noticed that it was important to reconnect with our values to plan for our future and they came up with the nation’s Vision 2050, a vision that defines the aspirations of the nation for the year 2050 where our country would be “A Safe, wise, fair and happy society” and that we would be one of the top 50 countries in the United Nations Development Index.
Early last year, the government of PNG recognized that in order to achieve our Vision 2050, we needed a more sustainable approach to development and so they launched The Strategy for Responsible and Sustainable Development. The purpose of this strategy was to rethink Papua New Guinea’s development paradigm and to reconnect with our nation’s values as captured in the preamble of our constitution. It encouraged Papua New Guineans to rethink what being Papua New Guinean was all about and to inspire all people to believe that PNG could lead the world in its model for development that focused on the people, our land and our future.
Very recently the world has also started to think this way as well. The member countries of the United Nations have come together to discuss the way they would want to pursue development because they have realized that man’s actions are having an enormous negative impact on the earth. They too have decided to reconnect with the values of humanity by launching the Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a proposed set of development targets that all member nations agree to meet. The goals replace the Millennium Development Goals which are set to expire by the end of 2015. The Millennium Development Goals were a set of eight goals that were set in the year 2000 that responded to the world’s main development challenges. The MDGs were established in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.Papua New Guinea is a member of the United Nations and made a commitment to work towards achieving those goals.
Earlier this year, I had the amazing opportunity to represent Papua New Guinea at United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum in New York. The aim of this forum was to discuss ways in which young people can and are helping to manage the shift from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and more importantly, ways to ensure that the needs and priorities of all youth are at the center of the future development agenda and its implementation. United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon opened the proceedings by calling on young people to be touch bearers of sustainable development. He added that almost half of the 7 billion of the world’s population are young people, hence the importance of putting young people at the center of the development. In his speech he made three calls of action to the youth of the world to:
- Help drive sustainable development that is people centered and planet sensitive
- Fight injustice and inequality with solidarity so that no one is left behind
- Be an active global citizen
As a young person I believe that it is our generation’s challenge to champion the cause for Responsible Sustainable Development as our both our planet and future generations are counting on us to rise to the task. So what then is Sustainable Development and how can we champion it in our communities? Well sustainable development in the simplest forms is about RESPECT, respect of ourselves, those around us and our environment. Basically, when we find value in something, we respect it and protect it by being mindful of our choices and our actions, and actively share their values to other. So this is my call to action for all the young people of Papua New Guinea, let’s rise to the challenge by connecting back to the values of our society by:
- Being more respectful:
- Respect ourselves,
- respect others and
- respect the environment
- Making More Responsible Choices
- Becoming Active Citizens, by sharing our values with our families, our communities, our nation and even the world!!
Mere-Ambu. 