Papua New Guinea
How well is Papua New Guinea respecting people's human rights?
Use the tabs below to explore the scores.
Papua New Guinea at a glance
Quality of Life
Economic and Social Rights
(2019)
Summary score
49.9%
How well is Papua New Guinea doing compared to what is possible at its level of income?
Right to
0
% of income adjusted benchmark achieved
HRMI score
100%
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Safety from the State
Civil and Political Rights
(2021)
Summary score
5.6
How well is Papua New Guinea's government respecting each right?
Right to freedom from
0
Score
10
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Empowerment
Civil and Political Rights
(2021)
Summary score
6.3
How well is Papua New Guinea's government respecting each right?
Right to
0
Score
10
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
Quality of Life
Papua New Guinea scores 49.9% on Quality of Life when scored against the 'Income adjusted' benchmark.
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing worse than average on Quality of Life rights (this comparison is calculated using the 'Income adjusted' benchmark).
To change the performance benchmark or assessment standard, please click on ‘Switch view’ above
Safety from the State
Papua New Guinea's Safety from the State score of 5.6 out of 10 suggests that many people are not safe from one or more of the following: arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment, forced disappearance, execution or extrajudicial killing.
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing worse than average on the right to be safe from the state.
Empowerment
Papua New Guinea's Empowerment score of 6.3 out of 10 suggests that many people are not enjoying their civil liberties and political freedoms (freedom of speech, assembly and association, and democratic rights).
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing close to average on empowerment rights.
Quality of Life - overview
(2019)
How well is Papua New Guinea doing compared to what is possible at its level of income?
Summary score
0
% of income adjusted benchmark achieved
HRMI score
100%
Right to
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
Quality of Life rights (or 'economic and social rights') include the rights to food, health, education, housing, and work. HRMI gives two scores, measuring against two different benchmarks.
Papua New Guinea scores 49.9% on Quality of Life when scored against the 'Income adjusted' benchmark. This score takes into account Papua New Guinea's resources and how well it is using them to make sure its people's Quality of Life rights are fulfilled.
This score tells us that Papua New Guinea is only doing 49.9% of what should be possible right now with the resources it has. Since anything less than 100% indicates that a country is not meeting its current duty under international human rights law, our assessment is that Papua New Guinea has a very long way to go to meet its immediate economic and social rights duty.
When measured against the Global best benchmark, comparing Papua New Guinea to the best performing countries in the world, Papua New Guinea's score is 45.4%, indicating that it has a very long way to go to meet current Global best standards for ensuring all people have adequate food, education, healthcare, housing and work.
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing worse than average on Quality of Life rights (this comparison is calculated using the 'Income adjusted' benchmark).
To change the performance benchmark or assessment standard, please click on ‘Switch view’ above
Quality of Life - full details
See more detail on how Papua New Guinea performs on the
?Right to
0
% of income adjusted benchmark achieved
HRMI score
100%
Right to
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
By sex
How does Papua New Guinea perform by sex for
?By sex
0
% of income adjusted benchmark achieved
HRMI score
100%
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
Over time
How does Papua New Guinea perform over time for
?Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
People at risk
Which people in Papua New Guinea were identified by human rights experts to be particularly at risk of having their
violated?Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to education in 2021, our respondents mentioned all of the following:
- Children living in rural parts of the country, especially when they come from migrant families or have learning disabilities
- People living in certain geographic areas, particularly the Porgera district in the Enga province
- All children
Safety from the State - overview
(2021)
How well is Papua New Guinea's government respecting each right?
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to freedom from
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
Papua New Guinea's Safety from the State score of 5.6 out of 10 suggests that many people are not safe from one or more of the following: arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment, forced disappearance, execution or extrajudicial killing.
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing worse than average on the right to be safe from the state.
Over time
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
People at risk
Which people in Papua New Guinea were identified by human rights experts to be particularly at risk of having their
violated?Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to arbitrary or political arrest and detention by government agents in 2021, our respondents mentioned all of the following:
- People engaging in non-violent protests or demonstrations, such as those who denounced the government’s decision to sell land for monetary gain as well as those who attempted to protect their own lands
- People who criticise the government, calling out cases of injustices and corruption by government officials
Empowerment - overview
(2021)
How well is Papua New Guinea's government respecting each right?
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to
Very bad
Bad
Fair
Good
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
Papua New Guinea's Empowerment score of 6.3 out of 10 suggests that many people are not enjoying their civil liberties and political freedoms (freedom of speech, assembly and association, and democratic rights).
Compared with the other countries in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is performing close to average on empowerment rights.
Over time
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
People at risk
Which people in Papua New Guinea were identified by human rights experts to be particularly at risk of having their
violated?Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
Source: HRMI 2022 rightstracker.org
When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to assembly and association by the government or its agents in 2021, our respondents mentioned all of the following:
- Any citizen who attempts to assemble for the purpose of criticising the government
- Corporate and professional workers who make demands of their companies
- People living in the Highlands
- People engaging in protests, especially those who do not receive a permit
- LGBTQIA+ people, especially in communities where there are not so many LGBTQIA+ people
Which people are most at risk?
We asked human rights experts to choose from a list of options for which people were particularly at risk of having this right violated. The images below show their answers.
Highlight
in the word clouds below.Quality of Life
People at risk for
Right to education
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to food
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to health
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to housing
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to work
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
Safety from the State
People at risk for
Right to freedom from arbitrary arrest
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to freedom from forced disappearance
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to freedom from the death penalty
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to freedom from extrajudicial execution
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to freedom from torture and ill-treatment
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
Empowerment
People at risk for
Right to assembly and association
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to opinion and expression
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
People at risk for
Right to participate in government
Interpretation: Larger text = more human rights experts identified this group as being at risk.
On this tab you can find data collected only in Pacific countries, on five themes.
Jump to:
Climate crisis
(2021)
How much has the climate crisis worsened human rights conditions in Papua New Guinea?
4.1
Not at All (1)
Slightly (2)
Somewhat (3)
Moderately (4)
Greatly (5)
Extremely (6)
When asked to provide more context about how the climate crisis has worsened rights conditions in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- The government is poorly prepared to support its people in times of crisis, such as during the recent king tide and volcanic activity on the islands
- Rising water levels have affected coastal residents. Their relocation from submerged areas has disrupted ways of living and caused conflict between re-settlers and residents where Papua New Guinea has a high percentage of land owned by people. Likewise, more people moving inland means less land for farming
- The climate change has caused droughts and floods in Papua New Guinea
- Where local sea life is affected, the climate crisis has reduced availability of seafood in some areas
- Food shortage has been experienced in wetlands due to changing patterns of rainfall and hailstorms in highlands
- Farmers receive insufficient support from the government in response to affected output
- Poor communication infrastructure and education affect vulnerable communities' ability to communicate their needs and situation, as does the geography of hard-to-access villages
Indigenous sovereignty
(2021)
To what extent are Indigenous and/or native communities in Papua New Guinea able to exercise self-determination?
4.1
Not at All (1)
Slightly (2)
Somewhat (3)
Moderately (4)
Highly (5)
Completely (6)
When asked to provide more context about Indigenous self-determination in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- Indigenous communities retain much self-determination in rural areas, unless they are affected by international interests
- Economic policies need reform in order to preserve self-determination for Indigenous communities
- The government controls land and resources, and international companies seek opportunities to develop infrastructure from the government
- The Papua New Guinea government retains the ability to choose their diplomatic and church relationships, however they remain dependent on external support from NGOs for domestic public services and infrastructure
- A breakdown of governing and mediation process has escalated small issues to violent outcomes as laws are viewed as unfair and people look to themselves to resolve issues
- The constitution enshrines the right of Indigenous people to preserve their ways of living
Indigenous lands
(2021)
To what extent do Indigenous and/or native communities in Papua New Guinea have possession and enjoyment of their traditional lands?
4.9
Not at All (1)
Slightly (2)
Somewhat (3)
Moderately (4)
Highly (5)
Completely (6)
When asked to provide more context about Indigenous land rights in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- The majority of land remains customarily owned and is protected by law. Tribes retain strong traditional boundaries around their land, and land is inherited intergenerationally
- Governments gain access to the Indigenously owned land through memoranda of understanding/agreement (MOU/MOA) and these arrangements are sources of legislative conflict between Indigenous tribes and the government
- There is sometimes a lack of consent before signing memoranda of understanding
- There is concern over corruption of legislative policies and guidelines pertaining to land rights
- Coercion from developers and foreign businesses occurs, bypassing the consent of landowners
- Landowners are sometimes manipulated into bad deals, such as in cases of illegal logging, and underpaying for the value of wood
- There is a need for more and better community consultation on risks and mitigation tactics
- Community voices need to be heard and acknowledged when reporting environmental damage
- A lack of literacy and complicated bureaucratic processes in conflict resolution continue to leave Indigenous landowners vulnerable to exploitation
Cultural rights
(2021)
To what extent do people in Papua New Guinea enjoy their cultural rights?
4.8
Not at All (1)
Slightly (2)
Somewhat (3)
Moderately (4)
Highly (5)
Completely (6)
When asked to provide more context about the extent to which communities can practise their cultural rights in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- Papua New Guinea is home to speakers of over 840 languages
- Some cultural practices are dying out while others are well preserved
- The diversity of Papua New Guinea culture has been eroded due to globalisation, and is poorly preserved in the younger generation
- Schools encourage students to use English, with local culture celebrated in a tokenistic manner
- There are not enough national museums to preserve PNG culture
- Cultural rights have been compromised due to national economic incentives
- Communities living in more secluded and inaccessible parts of Papua New Guinea enjoy more control over preserving their culture compared to urban areas. Traditions have been preserved orally and through festivals and language passed onto future generations
- The media reports in English, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu
Violence
To what extent are people in Papua New Guinea free from violence in the community?
Violence against
0
Score
10
Less safe
More safe
Violence against children
When asked to provide more context about violence against children in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- Child abuse is common
- Stories about lone children at the doorsteps of safe houses are becoming more common
- Domestic abuse is common, as is the concealment of abuse
- Physical violence is justified as discipline, to the extent of having limbs broken
- Children's rights are also poorly understood in Papua New Guinea
- Children are physically disciplined, used as labourers, starved, sometimes beaten to death, as well as sexually assaulted when sent out alone to run errands during unsafe hours
- Children are also at risk of grooming and kidnapping
- There are not enough child welfare services
- Organisations such as Pikinini Watch intervene through education and advocacy to adults and institutions working with children
- There is a lack of access to formal statistics to measure violence against children
- Unreported cases lead to poor data and there is also no database to track cases of violence against children
Violence against people with disabilities
When asked to provide more context about violence against people with disabilities in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- People with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence than the general population
- There are reports of girls with disabilities threatened and sexually assaulted
- Men with disabilities experience violence
- Some people with disabilities beg on the streets
- People with disabilities living in rural areas will not be able to access formal education
- Papua New Guinea lacks laws and policies that help people with disabilities to participate in society
- The voices of people with disabilities are being ignored
- There is a need for more laws to protect people with disabilities
Violence against MVPFAFF+/LGBTQIA+
When asked to provide more context about violence against MVPFAFF+ and LGBTQIA+ people in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- As a strongly Christian country, Papua New Guinea forbids homosexuality
- There is a lack of data about LGBTQIA+ and MVPFAFF+ communities and also a lack of understanding about diverse gender and sexual identities
- LGBTQIA+ and MVPFAFF+ people are often unsafe in Papua New Guinea, discriminated against and experiencing abuse online, and also rejected by their families when embracing their identities. The lack of understanding leads many individuals to live invisibly
Violence against women and girls
When asked to provide more context about violence against women in 2021, respondents mentioned the following:
- Reported statistics reflect high amount of violence, but violence in undocumented and rural areas are likely to be even higher
- Violence against women appears to be becoming more common, and stories of murdered women in urban areas have increased
- There is insufficient protection available for victims and their children, which means many cases are unreported
- Covid-19 and increasing unemployment have aggravated the rate of abuse
- Some services that facilitate women to safe houses exist
- Women often do not feel safe going out
- Women have experienced violence not only by partners or family members, but also by strangers
- Education as important for reforming the mindset on women
- The diverse traditional cultures in Papua New Guinea sometimes clash with the education a child receives at school, creating conflicting identities between Indigenous cultural values and taught cultural values. This may contribute to high rates of domestic violence
Behind the numbers
Quality of Life
China is performing better than average in economic and social rights compared with other East Asian countries, according to our income-adjusted benchmark, though it still has significant challenges. We produce scores for China for the rights to food, health, housing and work.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which China has signed, all countries agree to devote their maximum available resources to making things progressively better for their people in these areas.
HRMI has calculated what China could be achieving at its current level of income. The scores are given as a percentage of that realistic potential achievement.
China’s best scores are for the right to health, where it is achieving 98.4% of what we calculate should be possible, and for the right to food (96.4%). For these rights, China is doing nearly as well as it possibly could, given its level of income. It could still afford to make some gains now, but then would need to increase its income to make further improvements.
Of the four quality of life rights we measure, China needs to improve the most in the right to housing, where it is currently achieving only 87.2% of what we calculate should be possible at its level of income.
We further break the right to housing down into scores for the right to sanitation and the right to water.
With a GDP per capita of US$10,144 we calculate that China has the resources to ensure all of its people have running water and toilets in their homes. The good news is that China’s scores have been steadily improving since 2007, when the nation scored 74.5%.
However, China’s right to sanitation score of 83.9% shows that many people are missing out, even though China could afford to do better. If China efficiently used its available resources, it could achieve a score of 100%, which would mean that over 129 million additional Chinese would gain access to basic sanitation in their homes.
If China improved its performance for the right to water from 90.6% to 100%, over 106 million more people would have water on their premises.
When it comes to the right to food, if China lifted its score to 100%, over 2.5 million more children under five years old would have enough nutritious food to grow well – that would mean all children in China under five would have enough nutritious food to grow well. This is an achievable goal.
With a current score of 96.4%, China has improved only a little in respecting people’s right to food over the last 11 years.
On the right to work, China’s score has climbed up to 93.7% in 2019 from 62.2% in 2007, meaning many fewer people have been living in poverty over the last decade. Still, the latest score means 76 million Chinese are unnecessarily living in absolute poverty (living on less that $3.20 per day, measured in 2011 PPP$), and the government is only doing a ‘fair’ job at ensuring people have subsistence income.
China comes in second in the world in ensuring people’s right to health is fulfilled, with a score of 98.4%, when using the low and middle income assessment standard (when using the high income standard, China still comes in third in the world). For countries doing this well with their current level of income, an increase of income will be necessary to make significant further improvements. This is the right where China is most constrained by resources – for all of the other rights we measure, China should already be able to do nearly as well as any country in the world, at its current level of income.
People at risk
While China has room for improvement in all the rights we measure, a further consideration is inequity. There are several groups of people who our experts identified as being at higher risk of missing out. These include:
- People with lower social or economic status
- People from ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and Kazakhs
- Human rights advocates, protestors, and anyone who criticises the government
- People living in rural areas, particularly older people, and women
- Disabled people
- Detainees
- People from religious minorities, particularly those practising Falun Gong, Christianity, or Islam
- Internally displaced people
See the people at risk tab on the Rights Tracker for the full lists. The data also show a strong connection between political activity, especially criticism of the government, and lack of enjoyment of economic and social rights.
Room for improvement
All our Quality of Life scores show that China could make significant improvements to its people’s lives, even without more resources.
If China were using its resources more efficiently to ensure its people’s wellbeing, it could achieve 100% for all the rights we measure. Yet, while its best score is close to that mark—98.4% on the right to health — its worst score — 87.2% on the right to housing — is far from that level.
If China better upheld its rights obligations, and achieved a full 100% score on all the rights we measure, we would see millions more Chinese people living lives of dignity, even without income growth. For example, if China reached 100% we would see the following number of extra people benefitting:
- If China were to operate at its full potential given its current resources, we would expect an additional 2.5 million children under five to grow well and not be stunted.
- If China were operating at best practice, each year we would expect an extra 56,900 newborn babies to survive until their fifth birthday.
- If China were reaching its full potential, given its income constraints, an extra 343,300 15-year-olds could eventually reach the age of 60.
- If China used its resources efficiently, an additional 129 million people could have a toilet at home, and an extra 109 million people could have access to water in their homes.
- If China were operating at its full potential given its current resources, it could lift 76 million people out of absolute poverty.
Safety from the State
China scores 2.8 out of 10 for our overall Safety from the State category, telling us that many people are at risk of arbitrary or political arrest or detention, torture and ill-treatment, forced disappearance, execution, or extrajudicial killing. This is one of the lowest scores in our sample of 31 countries.
China’s worst score in this category is 1 out of 10 for freedom from the death penalty, the lowest score among all the countries we measure.
The human rights experts we surveyed said that agents of the state, particularly police, had total impunity to engage in torture of those detained.
Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that human rights advocates, protestors, and people who criticised the government were at particular risk of rights violations, especially arbitrary arrest and detention, forced disappearance, and torture and ill-treatment.
Survey respondents said that information about executions was deliberately obfuscated by the Chinese government, blurring the line between extrajudicial and judicial executions.
People from ethnic minorities were at extra risk of all five Safety from the State rights. Respondents noted that Uyghur people, and other ethnic minorities, were commonly detained incommunicado in concentration camps.
Other vulnerable groups include:
- People from ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and Kazakhs
- Human rights advocates, protestors, and anyone who criticises the government
- Detainees and those accused of crimes
- People from religious minorities, particularly those practising Falun Gong, Christianity, or Islam
- Internally displaced people
- People in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong
Among other East Asian countries and territories where we measure these rights, China has the lowest scores for all five Safety from the State rights.
Right to Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Detention in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Freedom from Forced Disappearance in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Freedom from Death Penalty in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Freedom from Extrajudicial Execution in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Freedom from Torture and Ill-treatment in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Empowerment
The Chinese government limits civil liberties and political freedom, with China scoring a very low 2.1 out of 10 in empowerment rights. This is the lowest score in our sample of 30 countries.
For the rights to assembly and association, opinion and expression, and participation in government, all of China’s scores fall into the ‘very bad’ range. For all three rights, the human rights experts we surveyed agreed overwhelmingly that ‘all people’ were at risk of violations of these rights.
When it comes to the right to assembly and association, China scores 2 out of 10, and human rights experts identified a wide range of people not enjoying their rights, including human rights advocates, protestors, and people criticising or opposing the government, as well as those from ethnic and religious minorities. They also noted that people from religious minorities cannot freely gather, and that even small gatherings in homes have been broken up by authorities.
China’s score for the right to opinion and expression is a very low 2.3 out of 10, with no improvement from 2022. Respondents noted that there are no independent media organisations allowed in China, and that teachers, academics, and journalists cannot speak freely. Expression is also limited online, where content is censored by Chinese regulators.
China also scores in the ‘very bad’ range for the right to participate in government, with a score of 1.9 out of 10. Respondents noted that political participation is controlled and severely limited by the Chinese Communist Party, which selects legislators and other political representatives.
Other vulnerable groups include:
- People from ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and Kazakhs
- Human rights advocates, protestors, and anyone who criticises the government
- Detainees and those accused of crimes
- People from religious minorities, particularly those practising Falun Gong, Christianity, or Islam
- Internally displaced people
- People in Tibet and Xinjiang
Right to Assembly and Association in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Opinion and Expression in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Right to Participate in Government in East Asia
Summary score
0
Score
10
Country details
Population
8.9m (2020)
GDP/capita
$2,757 (2020)
current US dollars
$4,064 (2020)
2017 PPP dollars