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Parliamentary members sit for referendum workshop

The Parliamentary members are undergoing a workshop today in preparation for a referendum awareness roll out program that was sanctioned in the September parliament sitting.

The Bougainville House of Representatives resolved on the 8th September, 2016 for each Member to prepare each constituency for the conduct of referendum by declaring all constituencies be referendum ready by the 31st December, 2018. The resolution required the Members to disseminate the same information throughout the region.

This workshop is purposely organized to equip Members of the House of Representatives with uniform information and tools to enable Members to conduct awareness and consultation in implementing the resolution of the House, the Constituency Referendum Ready. The presenters will brief Members on the key messages to be disseminated in the constituencies and the roles each stakeholder will be responsible for in implementing the resolution.

The resolution requires that Members provide status reports on the 11 agreed activities. Therefore, Members must be seen as working with the people in their constituencies, mobilizing, organizing discussions and debates on matters relating to the referendum. With the adequate information provided to Members, they can be in a better position to address their constituents.

There are huge expectations throughout the region with the approaches the government is taking to address the issue of referendum. Members must be prepared to handle the expectations from the people to avoid frustration and division in the communities. Members must walk into their constituencies as icons of peace and unity for a prosperous referendum.

The Members awareness programs will be complimented by other stakeholders, for instance the Radio Ples Lain, NBC, New Dawn, Bougainville Women Federation and the Parliamentary Committee on Referendum. In doing so, there is greater awareness of the need to coordinate stakeholders and condense the information that they disseminate throughout the region through different means of communication. There has to be a coordinated approach in the conduct of referendum awareness.

There is hunger for referendum information in Bougainville. The mandated leaders have a great opportunity to disseminate correct and factual information to the people. All stakeholders must work in collaboration with each other and the leaders must take the lead in speaking the same message because our aim is to see a well-informed society marching towards the eferendum.

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