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Wednesday, 31 August, 2016 – Port Moresby, NCD|| Digicel PNG Foundation’s Men of Honour Campaign has attracted the interest of Digicel’s other international Markets, with the Foundation’s CEO Beatrice Mahuru being invited to present at the Digicel Group’s Marketing Summit in St. Lucia next week.
The Marketing Summit will take place in the Caribbean Island nation of St. Lucia and where marketing heads of Digicel’s 32 Markets are expected to attend.
This announcement was done by Digicel Foundation’s Board Chairman, Douveri Henao, today and was proud to announce that the Men of Honour campaign is now going international.
“Papua New Guinean men have been vilified for decades but there are honourable men who are alleviating suffering and preserving human dignity in the roles they play. These are the Men of Honour whose stories we would like to shine onto the international stage and use to inspire an honourable new generation,” Mr. Henao said.
The Men of Honour campaign is the brainchild of Digicel Foundation CEO, Beatrice Mahuru, who attributed the social initiative’s growth to the support of her patron and Digicel Chairman, Denis O’Brien, and to the other corporations who came on board to support the message aimed at breaking the cycle of violence through focusing on positive behaviour for affirmative action.
“I’d like to thank our Patron and the Digicel Chairman, Denis O’Brien; and indeed our corporate sponsors: Atlas Steel, Hertz Leasemaster, Ela Motors, TV WAN, Digicel and the National and friends from the media who believe in our campaign,” said Ms Mahuru.
She said she was honoured and delighted to speak on the Men of Honour campaign to an international audience, and the success would be to see it replicated in other countries where violence is a social scourge.
“Digicel PNG Foundation has taken the road less travelled through its national Men of Honour Campaign, an innovative campaign against violence. This is a moral approach to repudiate behaviour that has been ignored and gnawing at the fabric of our society, an approach that has attracted the interest of other International Markets and goes to show that the issue of violence is not unique to PNG,” Ms. Mahuru said.
Also present was Men of Honour Community Ingenuity Category winner, Vincent Kumura, who said since being recognised for his quiet work in Snowpass, Madang Province, he is more respected and recognised and his work is becoming more effective.
“I’ve been quietly doing community impact projects like education, health care, water supply and eco-tourism to build a credible relationship with my people. Violence is present in the village and now with the recognition of the Men of Honour Awards, my role as peace mediator is respected and sought and I’m glad that I can contribute by being bold and standing against violence to promote a violence free, vibrant and progressive community in Bundi,” said Mr. Kumura.
The Men of Honour categories include; Community Ingenuity Award, Community Entrepreneur Award, Community Education Champion (2015) , Community Leadership Award, Sporting Mentor Award, Young Men of Honour and the Allen Mahuru Posthumous service Award.
Ms. Mahuru has appealed to the public to nominate ordinary men who are doing extraordinary deeds for a better PNG.
Nominations for the 2016 Men of Honour Awards close on the 30th November, 2016.
To date Digicel PNG Foundation has funded 485 classrooms and 15 libraries, 23 Mobile Health Clinics, 6 rural Health Aid Posts, 3 Women’s Resource Centres, co-funded 5 Family Support Centres in partnership with UNICEF and NDoH. We have graduated 261 grassroots community based teachers in early childhood development and learning and over 15,000 men and women are now equipped with basic business skills. Over 900 people with special needs, together with their families and communities have been impacted positively by the Community Based Rehabilitation Program; and the Men of Honour Awards – a campaign against violence in PNG, is the latest to the Foundation’s development portfolio. So far, we have 10 winners, 30 finalists and 162 nominations. Digicel PNG Foundation appreciates that change is not going to happen overnight, but it will happen.
Established in October 2008, Digicel PNG Foundation has directly invested K65 million in PNG’s rural, remote and socially marginalized communities across all 22 provinces directly impacting over 500,000 people.
