Papua New Guinea - June 2025

The three top leaders of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Papua New Guinea’s top anticorruption body, have been suspended after they formally accused each other of criminal activity, including corruption and abuse of power. The infighting among leadership is likely to bring the Commission’s work to a standstill, hampering the ability of staff to implement its mandate of prosecuting high-level corruption. Other ICAC expatriate staff are reportedly likely to leave the organization among concerns the internal discord may hamper its ability to implement policy entirely. In either case, the chaos at the ICAC has raised expert concerns that Papua New Guinea will be ‘grey listed’ by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which would make it more difficult for the country and its banks to raise much-needed international capital.

Sources: New Zealand Herald, Lekmak, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Health Minister Elias Kapavore declared that the country’s rate of HIV infection amounted to a national crisis. The most recent data showed 30 new infections per day in 2024, double the rate of infections in 2010. Nearly half of the new cases registered in 2024 were people aged 24 and below, nearly a quarter of whom were newborn infants. The data indicates a particular weakness in maternal health and reproductive services, as most cases of infants born with HIV were a result of mothers being unaware of their HIV status. The Papua New Guinea Department of Health and World Health Organisation called for a collective commitment to scaling up HIV testing and treatment and expanding adequate services nationwide. 

Sources: Radio New Zealand, Papua New Guinea Post-Courier