A conference tackling extreme poverty in Papua New Guinea brought together politicians, government officials, academics, private sector and non-government experts to explore ways of improving the situation of about one million people living in extreme poverty in Australia’s nearest neighbour.

Papua New Guinea’s most disadvantaged communities, who live around the fringes of the highlands and in inland, lowland areas, suffer from very low cash income, limited access to education and health services, poor transport and communications infrastructure, low life expectancy and high child and maternal mortality.

The report of the conference with recommendations for more cooperation between government, NGOs and the private sector to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged communities in Papua New Guinea has been published in this Lowy Institute Perspective.

The conference was convened by the Lowy Institute and CARE Australia in Sydney on 14 May 2009.