Carol Kidu DBE Dr (Hons)

Dame Carol Kidu, (a teacher by profession) retired from Papua New Guinea Parliament in 2012 after 15 years in politics.  She was the Minister for Community Development for 9 years and finished her political career as Leader of the Opposition.   She focused on legislative and policy reform for social development in PNG with a human rights-based approach to development and a focus on marginalised and vulnerable populations.   In addition to her Ministerial work, she established the Parliamentary Committee on HIV in 2003 and the PNG Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (PNG PPD) in 2008.    Since retiring from politics, she has continued international and regional commitments as well consultancies in Papua New Guinea.

Dame Kidu has been awarded five Honorary Doctorates (UNRE and UPNG in PNG; Queensland University, Deakin University and James Cook University in Australia). She was awarded Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005; the PNG International Woman of Courage Award by the Secretary of State of the United States of America in 2007; Pacific Person of the Year in 2007 and was the recipient of the Regional Rights Resource Team Pacific Human Rights Award for her contribution to promoting the rights of Pacific Islanders in 2008. She was honoured by the French Government with the Cross of Knight in the Order of the Legion d’Honneur in 2009.

Dame Kidu founded and is Patron of the Sir Buri Kidu Heart Institute, Ginigoada Bisnis Development Foundation for education for the marginalised and the PNG Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW) which focuses on scholarships for girls’ education.

Dame Kidu served for the Pacific Region on the Board of the Commonwealth of Learning, She was a member of the UN Pacific Commission on AIDS; the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and a member of the Global High Level Taskforce on ICPD 2014 and beyond.  She is presently a member of the UN Secretary General’s Independent Accountability Panel on the health of  Women, Children and Adolescents.

Dame Kidu works on a consultancy basis as required with Australian National University facilitating training and mentoring programmes with a focus on women in political leadership.  In her personal life she is renovating the family home to become a community library/learning centre and a day and short stay Retreat as an income-generation social enterprise with her extended family.