The 2015 Waigani Seminar
Announcement
The University of Papua New Guinea in cooperation with the
Government of Papua New Guinea through the PNG Vision 2050 Office proudly
announce the staging of the 2015 Waigani Seminar to act as a platform for debates
and discussions to chart future development ideals for Papua New Guinea.
Theme: Celebrating the past, Understanding
the present, and Charting the future through Effective Leadership and Good
Governance.
Introduction
The 2015 Waigani
Seminar provides an excellent platform for national and international debates
and exchange of intellectual discourse on issues and challenges in developing a
cadre of effective Leaders who would apply world’s best practices in good
Governance in pursuing the development agenda of prosperity for the people of
Papua New Guinea as envisioned in the PNG Vision 2050.
The University
of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) will have achieved fifty years of providing
university education to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific region by the
year 2015. UPNG has been the major
provider of human resource requirements of PNG since 1960’s hence,
significantly influencing and changing the socio- , political, economic, and
leadership landscape since Independence in 1975. UPNG will have contributed to PNG’s
workforce for the last fifty years in 2015 while PNG as a nation will celebrate
forty years growing in partnership with UPNG.
The PNG Vision
2050 envisions to achieving a smart, wise, fair, healthy and happy society by
the year 2050. That vision will have
been in operation in its fifth year of implementation in 2015 but only the last
year of the first Medium Term Development Plan (2011-2015). It is fitting that the Theme of the 2015
Waigani Seminar intends to celebrate the past common histories and successes
not only of the political independence
but also of meaningful contributions to human capital development that
provided the leadership needed at various layers of PNG society.
The 2015 Waigani
Seminar intends to celebrate the past by learning from the lessons of the last
half-century with a view to understand the present dynamics and challenges
brought about by the socio-, political and economic developments in order to
chart the way forward into the future.
It is envisaged that while celebrating the past achievements or lack of
it, an appreciation of the present socio-, economic and political development
dynamics is anticipated or is better understood so as to chart a way forward
into the future in sync with the aspirations of the PNG Vision 2050. It is a commonly held view that the most critical element to help chart a
way forward into the future based on the past lessons and appreciation of the
present challenges is through the development of PNG’s Human Resources which
falls within the purview of UPNG’s mandate.
Just like the graduates of the past 50 years from UPNG, the graduates of
the next fifty years are expected to continue to hold leadership positions that
would be empowered and inculcated with the right values and virtues of the
world’s best practices in good governance and leadership principles in their
respective roles in nation building.
Vision
The PNG Vision 2050 envisages to creating a
smart, wise, fair, healthy and happy society who will be prosperous by the year
2050. What does the 2015 score-card of PNG
Vision 2050 say about PNG’s current status especially on the globally
measured socio-economic indicators such as the UN Human Development Index? How
can PNG strategize and implement to raise the present status to achieve the
aspirations envisioned in PNG Vision 2050? How can UPNG being the premier university of
South-west Pacific region respond and contribute to produce the required Human
Resource that will drive and implement the university’s mandate? What calibre and cadre of leaders can UPNG
produce in the next fifty years that are committed and passionate to contribute
towards achieving the PNG Vision 2050? These and many other highly relevant questions bordering on its
roles, responsibilities and mandate will be discussed, debated, examined,
critiqued, and analysed at the 2015 Waigani Seminar with a view to chart a new
path to contribute towards PNG’s development agenda of creating prosperity for
the people of PNG in the next fifty years.
Highlights of the Seminar
The 2015 Waigani Seminar is not just
another seminar series the UPNG has been traditionally associated with for the
last five decades. The 2015 Waigani
Seminar celebrates a very special occasion in the history of not only UPNG but
also for PNG as a nation. It is a
celebration commemorating fifty years of UPNG’s dedication, commitment and
determination in its resolve through its mission to develop qualified and highly
motivated graduates to serve in PNG’s growing workforce in strategic roles in
nation building. It commemorates the
Golden Jubilee of the University of Papua New Guinea’s unwavering and unrivaled role to develop the workforce required in PNG’s development since
its establishment.
The 2015 Waigani Seminar will celebrate as
part of UPNG’s Golden Jubilee celebrations which takes cognisant of the fact
that Papua New Guinea as a nation state also celebrates the fortieth (40th)
Anniversary of Independence as the
University was established with the intention of producing graduates of high
calibre in anticipation of the imminent self-rule and self-determination agenda
then which eventually culminated in declaration of political Independence for
the Independent State of Papua New Guinea on 16th September
1975. It’s a celebration of partnership
in growing and working together in the service of nation building since
Independence.
The
University’s role in the development of the human capital requirement for the
Independent State of Papua New Guinea has reached its fiftieth year of
providing university education to take stock of its past achievements to
realign its strategies given the present realities for future directions in
synchronisation with the Papua New Guinea Vision 2050. The 2015 Waigani Seminar will mark the fifth
year of the implementation of PNG Vision
2050 as captured in the Medium Term Development Plan 2011-2015, which is
the first MTDP of the eight MTDPs anticipated by the year 2050. It is fitting that such a humble beginning of
PNG Vision 2050’s first five years implementation of a forty-year journey is
brought under the microscope at the 2015 Waigani Seminar as a platform for providing
discussions and evidence to further progress the aspirations of the vision for
prosperity in PNG.
The
University of Papua New Guinea in in cooperation with the Government of Papua
New Guinea through the PNG Vision 2050 Office intends to ride on the fine
tradition of the Waigani Seminar of the yester years to co-host the
2015 Waigani Seminar. The 2015 Waigani Seminar hopes to bring
past practices and strategies for development agenda to critically analyze the achievements
and challenges with the expressed intention to bring forth evidence from a cross-section of interest groups ranging from
academia to real-life experiences of past and present political and bureaucratic leaders
whose contributions would provide necessary policy framework and strategic directions for
further improve and implement the PNG Vision 2050’s aspirations.
Objectives of the Seminar
The 2015
Waigani Seminar’s Objectives are manifold.
The Seminar aims to bring leaders of eminent standing from within PNG
and across the globe with special interest in the development agenda of Papua
New Guinea to provide critical analysis of the past fifty years as a university
and forty years as the nation state of Papua New Guinea within the framework of
the country’s vision to achieve prosperity for the its people within the forty
year timeframe envisioned in the PNG Vision 2050.
·
The 2015 Waigani Seminar plans to invite former
Prime Ministers & the current Prime Minister Hon Peter O’Neill to
articulate and share their dreams, views and aspirations for PNG by
appreciating and understanding where we came from and where we should be in the
next fifty years and how they as leaders intend to lead PNG into the future.
·
The 2015 Waigani Seminar intends to use the
occasion to Review PNG Vision 2050’s implementation to date in the year 2015 which
marks the 5th year of implementation and assess its score cards on
what has been done to date, how much has been achieved, what are the perceived
challenges and impediments to implementation, how the past lessons could be
incorporated into the next phase of implementation through the second MTDP (2016-2010)
priorities, and where has been the bottlenecks to effective implementation, as some
of the initial questions to help guide, examine and explore possible and
plausible course of actions to chart the way forward.
·
The 2015 Waigani Seminar
anticipates
that the different state players (such as Government Departments, Statutory
Authorities, State-owned Enterprises including Provincial and Local-level
Governments) to explore their Leadership and Governance structures, identify
their strengths and weaknesses, discuss ways and means to improve the
Governance practices and Leadership roles, and determine how best the next
cadre of leadership is groomed, empowered and educated to provide effective
Leadership and good Governance practices in the implementation of the PNG Vision 2050.
·
The 2015 Waigani Seminar will bring forth a
smorgasbord of theoretical ideas, practical examples, world’s best practices, including
PNG’s home-bred success stories of champions involved in various projects with
highest bearing towards achieving PNG Vision 2050 and contribute to design or
formulate Policies for PNG’s Human Resources and Capacity Building with
appropriate skills set, values, attitudes and aptitude required for the new generation
of workforce for the next 50 years in PNG.
·
The 2015 Waigani Seminar
will provide
a strong basis for collaboration between and among the significant players to
identify and strategize the most appropriate Policies that will enhance the livelihoods
of Papua New Guineans which will be translated into improved living conditions
for the majority of the people and reflected positively in the improved socio-economic
indicators that would place PNG in the top 50 countries among the ‘Middle
Income’ category of countries on the United Nation’s Human Development Index by
the year 2030 and achieve prosperity by the year 2050.
Expected Outcomes of the Seminar
It is expected
that the following outcomes will be realised or achieved from The 2015 Waigani
Seminar. The perceived outcomes will
have a significant bearing on the University’s programs in terms of the Human
Resource development and Capacity Building for PNG in the overall scheme of
visioning intended by the PNG Vision 2050.
1. Good Governance and Effective Leadership framework in the PNG
context would be strategically developed for implementation.
2. Exchange of views through discussions from the presentations of
papers and personal accounts of past and present leaders’ aspirations for PNG
in the next fifty years. Former Prime
Ministers of PNG and present Prime Minister’s aspirations for PNG are included
in the discussion.
3. Formulate resolutions on best practices on good Governance and effective
Leadership to drive and implement PNG’s development agenda and aspirations.
4. Different forms of Publications of reports and policy directions to
capture a wide variety of viewpoints and suggestions grounded in research to
form the bases for informed pool of information to guide long term planning.
5. Models of National, Provincial, and Local-Level Governments and
their respective leadership qualities and practices is reported, refined,
shaped and recommended for implementation.
6. A national platform and agenda for launching the next level or cadre
of leaders to be passionate and motivated to drive and implement the development
agenda to improve standard of living and quality of life for PNG.
The 2015 Waigani Seminar
will be held at the University of Papua New Guinea from 19th to 21st
of August 2015.
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