Papua New Guinea’s total population is estimated at 9.2 million, as of 2021 [5], and is young and growing [6]. At the current population growth rate, the country will likely exceed 10 million people in 2022, which will consequently add more burden, load and pressure on the limited goods and services provided by the government to meet the population’s demands [2]. By 2050, the population is projected to reach 14.2 million people [5].

Between 75-80% of PNG’s population is rural based. Due to a lack of services and limited employment opportunities in rural areas, people are migrating to urban areas, with many landing in squatter and peri-urban settlements. As a result, major cities such as Port Moresby, Lae, Rabaul, Mount Hagen and Goroka are experiencing increases in population size. Unplanned urbanization spurs associated challenges which need to be addressed by the government, such as lack of access to basic services including sanitation and water, unemployment, customary land tenure issues, waste management issues, habitat degradation, high cost of housing, and increased crime rates [2], [4].

With a 2019 UNDP’s Human Development Index value of 0.555, PNG is regarded as a medium human development [7], lower middle-income country [2], ranked 155 out of 189 countries and territories [7]. Between 1990 and 2019, Papua New Guinea’s HDI value increased by 46.1%, with the country improving on a number of indicators including life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling [7].

Despite being a resource-rich country, as of 2020, about 39% of PNG’s population is living below the poverty line of less than US$1.90 per day (Papua New Guinean Kina/ PGK7.00 [K7] per day). In terms of development trajectory, the country is still far from attaining upper-middle income status by 2030. In addition, wide equity gaps exist in the population, ranging from the very wealthy, to segments of population that are the most disadvantaged in the Asia and the Pacific region. For instance, average access to drinking water in the county is 45%, however, households in the bottom 40% wealth distribution segment have only 21% access to basic drinking water (as compared to 90% access in the best-off population segment) [2].

PNG’s economy is dominated by two broad sectors: the agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector that engages most of the country’s labor force (the majority informally) [6] and accounts for about 16% of the country’s exports (in 2020) [8]; and the minerals and energy extraction sector that accounts for the majority of export earnings and much of the country’s GDP [6]. Mineral products (including oil, gas, liquid natural gas, gold, and copper) account for roughly 84% of all exports (in 2020) [8].

While the agriculture sector accounts for around only 13% of GDP, it supports more than 75% of the population, according to the country’s Voluntary National Review (2020). The country’s primary cash crops are coffee, palm oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber, and sugar. Employment levels in the agriculture sector as growing through the expansion in primary production, however, the sector is constrained by infrastructure problems causing relatively low labour productivity [2].

Much of PNG’s resource sector, which amounts to about 30% of the country’s GDP, is foreign owned, and a large share of the benefits flow offshore. Since 2010, economic growth has been supported by high levels of foreign direct investments, including a US$20 billion LNG project, which commenced its production in 2014. Unfortunately, the country’s economic growth has not been inclusive, nor has it translated into development outcomes or resulted in employment opportunities to match PNG’s growing population [2].

Between 2010 and 2014, the country’s economy experienced an average growth rate of 6%, driven by a boom in the mineral and petroleum sectors. Economic growth peaked in 2013 reaching a growth rate of 13.6%, before declining to 9.5% in 2015, and 4.1% in 2016. This downward trajectory was triggered by a sharp fall in global commodity prices in minerals and severe El Niño-induced drought, leading to the closure of the Ok Tedi Mine and affecting agriculture commodities especially in the Highlands Region [2]. In February 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake had devastating impacts on the mineral industry, causing damage to the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and mining activities in the highland areas [9]. The economic recovery after the 2018 earthquake-led downturn was slow but steady [2]. In 2020, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and weaker demand, it is estimated that real GDP contracted by 3.8%. At the same time, unemployment increased, affecting the most vulnerable households, including women and youth [10].

Over the past decade, the adoption and use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in PNG has significantly improved. Communication coverage in the country increased from 4.7% in 2007 to 47% in 2015, following the entry of Digicel into the communications industry in 2006. Internet usage is also increasing, with an estimated 7.9% of the population currently online (in 2020). However, fixed broadband penetration is below 1% of the population and remains far beyond the affordability of average citizens and small businesses. Although, with the recent increase in government investment in the ICT infrastructure sector, these scenarios are changing for the better. For instance, the recent construction of a fibre-optic network linking provincial towns will lead to reduced cost of internet service and corresponding use of data will enable increased population numbers to use the internet [2].

PNG is one of the countries most at-risk to climate change and natural disasters, ranked 28th out of 191 countries in the 2019 INFORM Risk Index. PNG’s ranking is particularly driven by the country’s lack of coping capacity, for which it ranked as having the 11th lowest coping capacity in the world [3]. PNG is prone to many natural disasters including cyclones, drought, earthquakes, floods, landslides, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. It ranks among the top six countries with the highest percentage of the population exposed to earthquake hazards and has the highest percentage of the population exposed to severe volcanic risk. Additionally, heavy rains in the country often lead to landslides and cause damage to road infrastructure and livelihoods. These hazards are likely to be exacerbated by climate change [9].

For more than a decade, Bougainville and the national government were enmeshed in a civil war in which thousands of people lost their lives and livelihoods. In 2001, the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed and one of its terms was to hold a non-binding referendum to determine the future of Bougainville, addressing a secessionist movement to break away from mainland PNG. The referendum was held in December 2019 and an overwhelming 98% of Bougainvilleans voted for independence [2].

Gender inequality is a major social, economic, and political issue and remains prevalent in both urban and rural communities. The stereotypical gendered roles in domestic duties along with poor access to health and education, employment and political representation, limits the opportunity of women to be effectively involved in decision-making. According to PNG’s Voluntary National Review (2020), 0% of parliamentary seats are held by women [2]. Additionally, gender-based violence remains widespread across the country. The Demographic and Health Survey 2016-2018 revealed 59% of women in the country aged 15-49 have experienced either physical or sexual violence [2].