Peace Foundation Melanesia (PFM)

About us

Our story begins in 1989 when the Hon. Bernard Narakobi, MP., Minister for Justice & Attorney General established the Foundation for Law Order and Justice (FLOJ) because he felt that the western court system for a long time was not suitable or just for the ordinary Papua New Guinean and that a different system of justice which did not depend so much on Courts and Jails was needed. In 2002 the name Foundation for Law Order and Justice was changed to PEACE Foundation Melanesia. The acronym "PEACE" means ´PEople And Community Empowerment´.

Aims and Objectives
• To improve the quality of life for people in Papua New Guinea by conducting training in community justice so that civil society can assist community police and village courts to maintain law and order through the establishment of peace and good order committee.
• To train village court magistrates and court officers in mediation skills.
• To train suitable people to conduct training in community justice.
• To assist the police and the courts by providing alternatives to court and incarceration for first offenders and young people.
• And other activity in pursuance of the above objectives including rehabilitation of goal inmates

Mission Statement
To be a strong and dynamic organization promoting the use of mediation and restorative justice using Melanesian custom law as the basis of reaching consensus and agreement.

Vision Statement
To provide people and community empowerment through the establishment of sustainable community justice initiatives that uses win-win mediation and restorative justice to repair community relationships and minimize law and order issues.

The core business of Peace Foundation Melanesia is community justice (conflict resolution) training focusing on win-win mediation and restorative justice. Many conflicts often deteriorate into violence and destruction and because there cannot be development without peace. PEACE Foundation Melanesia (PFM) has been involved, since 1989, in hundreds of communities in order to initiate self-reflection on these conflicts and related violence.

Our community justice participant´s manual covers these topics:
• Attitudes - values for mediators (minor people skills; Who am I; Self understanding; Attitudes - OK House; Male/Female relationships)
• Communication skills for mediators (listening skills & assertive communication skills)
• Proactive conflict control for mediators (Facilitation skills & negotiation skills family & community)
• Mediation skills for mediators (win-win mediation & restorative justice)
• Partners in peace building (good governance, community justice - informal system & formal law and justice agencies awareness)

James Laki is the Executive Director of the Peace Foundation Melanesia Inc. (PFM).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff and establish new contacts in the field of our work.