U.S. Government Launches the Thousand Tribes Campaign to Promote PNG’s Creative Industries
News Highlights November 23, 2020
U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands Her Excellency Erin Elizabeth McKee formally launched the Thousand Tribes campaign with government and private sector at the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery on Thursday 19 November.
An initiative under USAID’s PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP), in partnership with REAL Impact (REAL), the Thousand Tribe campaign is aimed at championing Papua New Guinea’s vibrant and diverse artisan skills to drive the development of the nation’s creative economy. “As a land of a thousand tribes with proud master craftspeople boasting unique skills in the traditional arts, including weaving, carving, pottery, textiles, basketry, and jewelry, Papua New Guinea is best positioned to tap the global artisan creative industries market now valued at $32 billion,” said Ambassador McKee. “Developing the potential of this industry will provide direct employment for women currently locked in informal, local economies and could result in an increase in women-led businesses that are inclusive of their family members.”
“PNG is the land of 1000 tribes, and culture is in the DNA of every village,” said REAL Impact’s CEO Virginia Bruce. “As the old adage says, it takes a village to raise a child. In the case of PNG’s creative industry, it is going to take collaboration, shared value partnerships, technology, and the building of appropriate MSME infrastructure support to secure a share of the global US$32 billion artisan market, which PNG has been missing out on for too long.”
“REAL Impact creates value chains where sustainable, end-to-end value chains do not currently exist,
and economic value is not being focused on the benefit of the communities. REAL is uniquely positioned, through its MSME acceleration program and access to global high-end marketplaces, to help PNG achieve its goals of increased economic empowerment for its large number of rural citizens.”
“Our partnership with the USAID PNG LGP is critical, as it provides key support that will accelerate MSMEs and communities in the creative industry sector so they can thrive economically, especially in these challenging times,” adds Ms. Bruce.
The Thousand Tribes campaign is calling on PNG’s creative individuals, MSMEs, and communities, as well as professional support services in ITC, logistics, and marketing to apply. Individuals, businesses, and communities that show excellent promise and unique design potential will be chosen to join the Minimum Viable Business (MVB®) MSME Mentoring & Acceleration Program, which includes one toone, in-person mentoring; group business training and workshops; design partnerships; and dedicated support from the Thousand Tribes’ official partners. The program will also offer product development assistance for international markets; access to essential business resources, including capital; sustainable PNG certification; inclusion on the considered by real international e-commerce site; and international tradeshow market access.
The Thousand Tribes campaign aims to foster internationally design-led, market-driven products and
innovative brands that support biodiversity conservation and gender inclusion and have a real economic and social impact on the ground in PNG.
LGP is a biodiversity and gender empowerment program implemented through a consortium of partners led by Cardno International Development. The partners include Care International, The Nature Conservancy,the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (in the YUSConservation Area),the Wildlife Conservation Society, and now, REAL Impact. The program’s conservation focus is in the provinces that cover the Bismarck Forest Corridor, the Ridge to Reef area in Madang, and the YUS conservation area in Morobe Province (Yapno, Uruwa, and Som).
USAID PNG LGP is in a unique position to link conservation-based livelihood creation with women’s economic empowerment due to the blending of biodiversity and W-GDP funding into a coordinated implementation program. The Thousand Tribes program is part of LGP, with REAL Impact having been on boarded as a full Implementing Partner to focus on sustainable, natural resource-based livelihood creation.
Maurice Knight Chief of Party, Cardno International Development, says, “USAID, REAL Impact and Cardno are partnering with the Government of PNG in this innovative approach to develop a new creative sector in Papua New Guinea. This is the ‘right effort at the right time’ to provide jobs in communities, family income in homes, and to help the government meet its commitment to grow the micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) from a current 49,500 to 500,000 by 2030, to increase employment opportunities in the MSME sector from a current 291,348 to about 2,000,000 jobs, and to reduce the unemployment level from the current 84.1% to 49% of the population. Perhaps what is most significant is that the effort is designed to keep the returns from this new sector in PNG where it is most needed.”
Ms.Bruce believes that the Thousand Tribes campaign provides a unique opportunity to identify local creative talent, including individuals and MSMEs looking to take their business to the next level and communities wishing to create artisan products for export, as well as those that can provide professional service support such as accountants, computer programmers, and logistic specialists – all of whom are critical to the success of a business.
“The key to the Thousand Tribes campaign is it unlocks the expertise, passion, and talent within PNG. This empowers Papua New Guineans to drive development because they are truly invested in making changes for the better — not only as individuals but also for their local communities and provinces. Most importantly, the impact will directly benefit Papua New Guinea’s and generate sustainable economic livelihoods,” adds Ms. Bruce.
The Thousand Tribes campaign has a limited number of places available, and applicants will be subject to a rigorous selection process. Selected participants must be willing to commit time and energy and be looking to make change for the better.
| PARTNERSHIPS | MEDIA INQUIRIES |
| VirginiaBruce | Jane Morey |
| CEO | Director |
| REALImpact E: virginia.bruce@realsocialimpact.com M: +61 415 508 442 |
Morey Media E: jane@moreymedia.com.au M: +61 416 097 678 |
CARDNO
Maurice Knight
Chief of Party
Cardno International Development
E: info@pngbiod.com
USAID LGP
The USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program(LGP) empowers traditional landowners inPapua New Guinea to manage their communal land. The program is funded by USAID and implemented by managing partner, Cardno International Development (Cardno). It aims to support the Government of PNG’s efforts in strengthening the management of the country’s biodiversity.
Cardno International Development
Cardno International Development (Cardno) has been delivering practical, innovative and sustainable solutions in international development for 50 years. They analyse and reflect on this experience to provide agile and adaptive management and technical solutions, continuing to adapt to the needs of clients with measurable impact and sustainable results. This rests on their commitment to investing in communities where Cardno works, localising their operations wherever possible. Cardno’s worldwide team is a diverse mix of the communities in which we live and work.
REAL Impact
REAL Impact is a “profit-for-purpose” enterprise developing a viable creative industry across the
Pacific by innovating global value chain processes to include high-impact, small-batch production and
ITC integration for capacity-building and leveraging this through an e-commerce B2B marketplace
connecting global retailers and brands through procurement contracts with the informal economy across the Pacific.To date,REAL Impact has scoped and piloted in four countries: Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG, and Fiji.
