DAWN Executive Committee member Kumudini Samuel and DAWN Associate Elizabeth Cox engaged with women’s groups from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARB) to write and submit a Shadow Report to the CEDAW Committee on Australia’s extra territorial obligations (ETO) in Papua New Guinea.  They were joined by Dr. Ruth Saovana Spriggs during the review of Australia’s 8th periodic report to advocate with the CEDAW Committee, presenting an oral statement and briefing papers to enable a constructive dialogue with the State party.

The Shadow Report highlighted Australia’s active role in extractive industries in PNG/ARB that have left a legacy of cultural, environmental and social destruction, exclusion and marginalization of women. It deplored the failure of the Australian Government to ensure that:

• free, prior and informed consent is obtained by Australian owned companies from women in communities in mining areas;
• gender equal sharing of mining revenue is instituted as part of mining agreements/contracts made by Australian owned Extractive Industry (EI) companies with the PNG state;
• gender-equal access to jobs and training in Australian owned EI companies and associated businesses is practiced;
• women’s security and access to justice in areas affected by the activities of Australian-owned EI companies are guaranteed.

DAWN worked with four organizations from the region to write the Shadow Report: HELP Resources, Bougainville People’s Resource Centre, Voice for Change and the emerging Hela Women Never Give Up.

In addition, DAWN coordinated with the International Women’s Rights Action Watch – Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP) so that Ms. Cox and Dr. Ruth Saovana Spriggs (founder of the Bougainville People’s Research Centre) could participate in their training for advocacy prior to the review. In Geneva, Dr. Saovana Spriggs presented a powerful and passionate Oral Statement to the CEDAW Committee, and together with Elizabeth and Kumudini participated in lunch-time briefing and one-on-one meetings with CEDAW Committee members on the Australia Task Force.

These advocacy efforts in defense of the human rights of the women of PNG/ARB are reflected in the Concluding Comments and Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, which picked up all the concerns raised on Australia’s Extra Territorial Obligations (ETOs) and called for reparations and redress for human rights violations, as well as guidelines for Corporate engagement in extractive industries extra territorially.

In their concluding observations the CEDAW committee expressed their concerns about the gendered social and environmental impact of Australia’s extractive industry projects, in PNG, which they noted was due to resultant displacement, loss of livelihoods and social services for local women, and led to their discrimination, exclusion and marginalisation.  It was also concerned that these projected fuelled conflict and related gender-based violence against women.  The Committee made a number of recommendations for redress and remedy to the Australian State vis a vis its extra territorial obligations relating to extractive industries and also commented on Australia’s obligations in the region in relation to climate change and the lack of Australia’s human rights perspective on climate change which affected women specifically.

Read the Shadow Report submitted to  CEDAW.

Read the Oral Statement presented by Dr. Ruth Saovana Spriggs.

Watch the video where the CEDAW Committee questions the representatives of the Australian state in relation to the ETOs concerns raised by DAWN and other organizations.