The Stanley Hotel and Suites, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
 

10–13 June 2025

ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines

The Pacific Women Leaders Program (PWLP) is part of ADB’s flagship Asia Women Leaders Program (AWLP) that aims to address significant gaps in women’s leadership in Asia and the Pacific region. The program targets senior women officials who are in positions to influence their country’s public finance, policies, and services. It provides leadership capacity development by strengthening their knowledge on the connections between gender equality, women’s leadership, and inclusive growth, skills building in communications and negotiations, forming a network, and raising confidence.     

On 3-6 June, ADB’s Gender Equality Division (CCGE) in collaboration with the Papua New Guinea Resident Mission launched the country-focused Pacific Women Leaders Program in Port Moresby. Training participants consisted of 20 women leaders across PNG’s non-oil and non-mining State-Owned Enterprises (18) and private sector (2). 

ADB conducted a Subregional Pacific Women Leaders Program (PWLP-North Pacific) for the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau on 10–13 June at the ADB headquarters in Manila. Training participants consisted of 21 women leaders including 16 senior women government officials mostly from Ministries of finance, infrastructure, environment, health, education and social affairs, 3 representatives from civil society organizations from RMI, FSM, and Palau, and 2 ADB Principal Country Officers from RMI and Palau. 

Over the past 11 years, as of June 2025, AWLP has trained 328 women leaders from 33 countries in Asia and the Pacific

AWLP helps participants become transformative women leaders not only by building their personal capacities to move up the career ladder, but also by inspiring them and improving their ability to motivate, enable, and empower other women leaders.