Press Release

Statement of the UN Resident Coordinator on the Passage of the Disability Services Bill

01 August 2025

Yesterday’s unanimous passage of the Disability Services Bill of 2025 by the National Parliament is a landmark achievement in Papua New Guinea’s journey toward greater inclusion, dignity, and human rights for all. On behalf of the United Nations system in PNG, I warmly congratulate the National Executive Council and the Department for Community Development and Religion, and the many organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) who have long championed this reform.

Caption: United Nations Strategic Foresight Workshop with Persons with Disabilities (PWD's) held on 20 November 2023 in Port Moresby, NCD, Papua New Guinea.

Photo: © @United Nations in PNG

This new law affirms Papua New Guinea’s commitment to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which the country ratified in 2013. It marks a transformative step toward ensuring that no one is left behind. The UN stands firmly behind the Government and persons with disabilities in supporting the Bill’s effective implementation.

In partnership with development partners and civil society, the UN will continue working closely with DFCDR and a technical working group to advance four key priorities in support of the bill’s implementation: (1) strengthening legal and policy frameworks anchored on human rights standards, (2) enhancing the institutional capacity of organizations of persons with disabilities, (3) upgrading service delivery, infrastructure, transport accessibility and labour mobility, especially for women and girls, and (4) boosting knowledge management, analytics and data on the situation of persons with disabilities.

Together, we move forward in solidarity and determination to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

Richard Howard

RCO

Resident Coordinator

rcs-uninpng-office@un.org

Mr Richard Howard is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Papua New Guinea.

Over more than 30 years, he has acquired an impressive portfolio in management and research, economic growth, gender equality and inclusion.

Before taking up his role in PNG, Mr Howard was the United Nations Resident Coordinator ad-interim in Nepal, where he also served as Country Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Mr. Howard worked as Senior Regional Specialist with ILO in Thailand. He was Chief Technical Advisor to Private Sector Partnerships on Health for Internal Migrants, in China.

A Fulbright Scholar in Indonesia with research focusing on gender, ethnicity, and national identity, Mr Howard is a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, Chicago and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina.

On 7 December 2022, he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as the UN Resident Coordinator for Papua New Guinea.