Nambawan Super is celebrating International Women’s Day (Monday 8 March 2021) by
recognising the success and strength of its female membership, executive and staff.
Chief Executive Officer Paul Sayer said the occasion provided the opportunity to reflect on the
achievements and contributions of women who continue to positively impact and grow the Fund for members in Papua New Guinea.
“A significant finding of ours has been that our female members are excellent savers – on
average they have higher balances than their male counterparts.”
Nambawan Super Member, and proven Super Saver, Harriet Topa’a who is a Health Extension
Officer in New Ireland Province, said: “I started contributing to Nambawan Super and signed up
for Voluntary Contributions as soon as I started work to boost my savings, and to one day own
my own home and retire comfortably.”
Another female member of Nambawan Super, Theresa Dieni who is an officer at the Milne Bay
Provincial Administration said: “I have seen my Nambawan Super savings grow over time
through Voluntary Contributions.
“I realised the compounding interest return has been significantly impacting my savings and also increasing my housing advance,” she said.
Mr Sayer said the Fund were digging deeper into member data to get to the bottom of factors
that make women better savers, but leading theories include they are more steadily employed
and regular Voluntary Contributors.
“In addition, Nambawan Super is proudly an equal opportunity employer. In recent years we
have maintained a balanced workforce, with 50% men and women – something we have
achieved this with no quota in place,” Mr Sayer said.
“We have a track record of Women in Leadership, and are investing in the next generation
Executive Leaders, and have appointed more high calibre female trainee directors and
managers, who are role modelling Women in Leadership in every aspect of our operations at
Nambawan Super.”
While we are proud to celebrate our achievements and those of women across Papua New
Guinea, our membership mix indicates that women are not equally represented in all PNG
workplaces.
“In line with this year’s theme, #ChooseToChallenge and the idea that a challenged world is an
alert world, Nambawan Super therefore is challenging all PNG employers to continue to take
action for equality.”
International Women’s Day, honours the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is observed globally on 8 March each year.
