Papua New Guinea (PNG) joined the ILO in 1976 and since then has ratified all eight of the ILO’s Fundamental Conventions.
The United Nations classifies PNG as a least-developed country. Its rugged terrain means developing a transport infrastructure is a challenge. There are more than 700 native tongues (making it the world’s most linguistically diverse country), something which affects the process of formulating government policies. Law and order problems also affect the country’s economic and social progress.
More than 80 per cent of PNG’s population depends on labour-intensive agriculture. However, thanks to the country’s rich mineral deposits such as oil, gold, and copper, about 70 per cent of export earnings come from the mining sector.
Since joining the ILO the country has been a regular recipient of the Organization’s technical expertise and project funding, administered from ILO’s Sub-Regional Office for South-East Asia and the Pacific in Manila. The ILO and its PNG constituents are currently in the process of drafting the country’s own Decent Work Country Programme.
ILO work in Papua New Guinea is supported through the ILO’s Office in Suva, Fiji.