Reinstated Foreign Affairs Minister, Justin Tkatchenko has outlined that the ministry will be looking to work with international partners and heads of overseas missions to enable the regular flow of information for transparency.
Minister Tkatchenko, whilst speaking a gathering with representatives of overseas missions reiterated that more information was needed to be shared with government departments and its international partners.
This is in response to a question by UN Resident Coordinator, Richard Howard, regarding the lack of a coordinated security focal point from government.
While commending the Minister on the briefing initiative with the international partners, Howard requested for a focal point within the ministry of Foreign Affairs for reporting purposes across the 23 UN agencies.
Tkatchenko said that one of the biggest challenges that is faced by both agencies is the lack of information, which alternatively makes way for fake news to be easily circulated creating uncertainty, adding that more information and communication allows confidence and building of relationships.
“It’s an issue that requires us all to work together, to ensure that whatever we put out is factual and clear everyone.”
He revealed that the Foreign Affairs Department is setting up a unit that will be responsible for the implementation of its projects and programs.
During this time the minister also responded to questions regarding outstanding projects and programs signed by overseas missions, stating that they are working closely with the Offices of the Attorney General, State Solicitor and other Departments to ensure that everything is done legally and correctly and to ensure that everyone is involved and is a part of the end result.
“However, we need our own professional team. When it comes to implementation and timing. That will be one of our number one priorities.”
“We want to see these projects be successfully implemented without delay which will give much needed confidence to our Partners.”
In terms of security, the minister said the Security Council has now been meeting on a regular basis with government departments headed by Prime Minister James Marape giving out more information on a weekly basis on these issues, bring more transparent.
“For me I have set up a new PR Branch in the ministerial office, so we have all the information from the ministry as well as the department disseminated to the missions every week.”
Tkatchenko added that they Department is moving forward, and promised to learn from what has happened in the past.