Advertisement

Bertie Ahern appointed to Papua New Guinea peace process role

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has been appointed to a role assisting the peace process in Papua N...
Newstalk
Newstalk

13.15 13 Dec 2018


Share this article


Bertie Ahern appointed to Papu...

Bertie Ahern appointed to Papua New Guinea peace process role

Newstalk
Newstalk

13.15 13 Dec 2018


Share this article


Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has been appointed to a role assisting the peace process in Papua New Guinea.

Mr Ahern will head up the Bougainville Referendum Commission (BRC) as the region prepares for a an independence vote.

Bougainville is currently classified as an autonomous region within the South Pacific region.

Advertisement

The region was declared autonomous following a bloody conflict that saw around 20,000 casualties between 1989 and 1997.

The 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement led to a gradual transfer of power from the central Papua New Guinea government to Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG).

Ongoing talks over the past ten years paved the way for the referendum planned for June 2019.

An aerial view of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 10-11-2018. Image: Xinhua/Bai Xuefei

Both the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) have welcomed Mr Ahern's appointment as a "significant milestone" in the peace process in the region.

Gianluca Rampolla, UN Resident Coordinator for Papua New Guinea said “Mr Ahern’s appointment as the Chair of the BRC will give confidence to the people of PNG and Bougainville in the referendum process with the aim of attaining peace by peaceful means.

"The UN remains committed to supporting both governments and the BRC in achieving this."

Located in the South-West Pacific Ocean, Papua New Guinea currently has a population of eight million people - with some 850 different languages spoken by more than 1,000  indigenous tribes.

The islands of Bougainville were part of German New Guinea until World War I - when they were annexed to the Australian New Guinea Territories.

In 1975 they became part of independent Papua New Guinea.

they host a population of almost half-a-million speaking 21 district languages, 8 sub-languages and 39 dialects.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular