The name of the WIDFPNG Soil Child Program is derived from a metaphor in the Yuna language, Hela Province, which means that life begins in the soil and the birth of a new child signifies new life.
Soil Child resonates well with the core principles of WIDFPNG. In rural PNG, women work extremely hard to till the soil and raise their children. Yet often their voice is suppressed, their contributions to society are unrecognised, they are denied access to valuable resources, such as land, and live in situations of extreme poverty. Despite these disadvantages, women are also often the most resilient members of their community in times of emergency and serve as the primary care givers for their children, other family members and the wider community. The core focus of the Soil Child Program is to empower women by building on their existing knowledge about cultivating the soil to empower them to improve the quality of life for themselves and their children. The Soil Child Program has 3 main components: universal basic primary education, comprehensive primary health care and Life begins in the Soil programs. |
Universal basic primary educationGoal: Increased gender balanced gross enrolment rate for universal basic primary education in rural and remote PNG schools
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Comprehensive primary health careGoal: Strengthened primary health care system enabling universal access to maternal and child health services for rural communities
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Life begins in the soil
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