Twenty-two service providers from across the Western Highlands Province (WHP) gender-based violence (GBV) referral pathway have completed a five-day Basic Case Management Training in Mount Hagen, strengthening their ability to provide survivor-centred, trauma-informed care and support to survivors of GBV and Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence (SARV).
The training, held from 14-18 September 2026 at Hotel Kimininga, was delivered by Femili PNG under the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-funded GBV/SARV Programme, with support from KOICA. Participants came from the police, courts, health services, community development offices, provincial child protection and care services, civil society and church-based organisations, and provincial gender and education offices, reflecting the wide network of stakeholders who respond to GBV across Mt Hagen.
The training was officially opened by Mr Esley Tikil, Deputy Administrator of the Western Highlands Provincial Administration. Mr Tikil recognised GBV as a serious issue affecting the province and described it as a global challenge requiring sustained and coordinated action. He emphasised the provincial government’s plans to strengthen systems to address GBV and urged stakeholders to adopt a bottom-up approach that begins at the district level.
Over five days, facilitators Ms Daisy Plana and Ms Elly Toimbo guided participants through the principles of survivor-centred practice, trauma-informed care, privacy and confidentiality, and the six stages of case management: engagement, assessment, planning, implementation, follow-up, and closure. Role-play exercises provided participants with opportunities to practise these skills directly, including caseworker-survivor communication scenarios.
The training’s impact was measurable. Knowledge scores increased from an average of 78.4% before the training to 84.1% after the training, while participants’ confidence in their case management skills rose from 3.32 to 4.43 out of 5.
However, the numbers tell only part of the story. Throughout the week, participants reflected openly on how the training was changing the way they viewed their roles. A court representative spoke of a shift towards recognising the trauma behind every case, noting that the term “survivor” better reflects a person’s experience than standard court terminology. A community development officer summarised the training’s central lesson simply: “Putting the survivor’s plan before my own.”
One participant who mediates disputes at the community level admitted:
“We had previously advised women experiencing intimate partner violence and sexual violence to return to abusive partners without considering the trauma involved. This training is a turning point, committing us to a client-centred, trauma-informed, and non-judgmental approach going forward. I promise to pass this lesson on to other community leaders involved in local mediations.”
A juvenile justice officer made a similar admission, acknowledging that cases had often been approached with judgment rather than proper assessment and committing to conducting more comprehensive assessments before making recommendations to the court.
For many participants, including those with years of frontline experience in policing, the courts, and community development, this was the first case management training they had ever attended, highlighting the ongoing need for capacity-building opportunities across the province.
The training closed on 18 September 2026, with UNFPA Programme Manager Ms Joannah Seng presenting Basic Case Management Certificates to all 22 participants. Nearly every participant expressed appreciation to UNFPA and Femili PNG for making the training possible.
For a province where gender-based violence remains a daily reality, the training was small in scale, 22 participants over five days, but it reached the very places where survivors seek help: the police station, the courtroom, the health centre, the safe house, and the village mediation table. If even a handful of those 22 participants put their commitments into practice, the impact will be felt far beyond the training room.
