Members of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) recognize that Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sorcery Accusation Relation Violence (SARV) continue to be their top priority for action. This was made known by the Chairman of the Committee and National Capital District (NCD) Governor, Powes Parkop when the Committee met recently to discuss the range of issues facing the women and girls of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and decide on their priorities over the coming months. The Chairman said the members have been given a critical mandate to use their oversight powers to hold government agencies at all levels accountable for what they are doing and not doing, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. “I want us to use our Committee’s powers proactively to focus on the issue most important to our women and girls. We need to stop just talking about what needs to be done and ensure our oversight, forces officials to more effectively use Government resources to bring real improvement to our people across the country.” The Committee has the mandate to review any and all laws, policies, programmes and other issues related to ensuring that women and girls can live safe, healthy and prosperous lives. “It is very clear that there are many issues facing the women and girls of PNG but it is still very clear that ensuring their basic safety in their home and communities is absolutely essential. I want to continue to use our powers to make sure that every agency responsible for helping survivors does their jobs properly.” Six of seven committee members came together at the National Parliament House for a briefing provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The briefing covered a wide range of GEWE issues, including the gaps in existing institutional structures, laws and policy frameworks guiding GEWE efforts, challenges with women’s leadership, priorities in relation to promoting women’s economic empowerment, the importance of ensuring women’s access to health and education services, and the ongoing challenges with properly addressing GBV and SARV. The Committee adjourned with a commitment to return for a more detailed discussions on the core issues they want to address. They have tentatively agreed to dedicate their first public hearings to reviewing progress by government to address GBV and SARV, with hearings likely to be held sometime in May 2023.