Papua New Guinea

Through these partnerships, we are building sustainable programs that can improve the sexual and reproductive health of Papua New Guineans, including women and young people, well into the future.

Although Papua New Guinea is a country of abundant natural resources and rare beauty, its people face formidable health and development challenges.

The soaring maternal mortality rate represents a gross violation of the right of every woman to live a healthy, happy life. So Pathfinder is working to change it—by expanding access to quality reproductive health and family planning services.

Progress in Papua New Guinea, like so many of the places where we work, is a result of collaboration with local level government, donors, and other community-based organizations.

Today, through multifaceted community outreach and clinical interventions, Pathfinder programs reach individuals and families throughout Madang province with information and contraceptives.

In 2006, Pathfinder International began a new program in Papua New Guinea to improve access to quality reproductive health and family planning services in communities throughout the country.

An island state of 5.6 million, Papua New Guinea is one of the world's most unexplored territories. Because of its rugged terrain, communities often exist in isolation, and the country is therefore one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse in the world, home to more than 850 indigenous languages and 1,000 dialects. Geography, along with a weak health infrastructure, has left many Papua New Guineans with limited access to quality health care and resulted in some of the highest maternal mortality, infant mortality, and fertility rates in the Asia-Pacific region. The country also ranks among the lowest in the region in education, literacy, and life expectancy, and among the highest in prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Just 26 percent of married women in Papua New Guinea use any method of contraception and many are affected by the high prevalence of gender-based violence.