“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

These were the wise words of the longest serving former first lady of the United States of America, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Peace and reconciliation is one of the most integral part of the Melanesian society and has strived and proved to withstand the change of time.

Peace and reconciliation ceremonies are held in communities that have had crisis related conflicts, some of which involved killings of family members or loved ones and destruction of properties whether it is something as big as arson or minor criminal acts  like vandalism.

One of the most nationally recognized peace building processes is the Bougainville peace process which was the outcome of the inequalities and environment destruction of the former Bougainville Copper Limited Panguna mine.

Many a times we hear the over used phrase “peace must prevail before any socio-economic or even political development may be established.”

Although the actual number of reconciliation ceremonies from 1997 up till today is yet to be correctly recorded, we know that a cease fire between the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army(BRA) was achieved in 1989.

Both warring parties lost so many lives and many sustained both minor and major injuries. This major incident soon reached the global eyes caught its attention.

Although the 1989 ceasefire was proclaimed to be of failure, a subsequent one signed between the same two parties in 1997resulted in the formation of the Peace Process Consultative Committee (PPCC)followed the introduction of the weapons disposal.

Correspondingly, after the weapons disposal, the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) was formed in 2005.

This was not the only successful peace process initiated by AROB. Another historical movement the former Northern Province took action on was its successful autonomy which was achieved without bloodshed.

Autonomy is the first pillar of the Bougainville Peace Agreement which was signed in 2001. As the ABG proclaims, AROB’s autonomy as per the BPA aims to give expression and development to Bougainvillean identity and empowering Bougainvilleans to solve their own problems.

Northern Province became the first ever province in Papua New Guinea to be pronounced autonomous on the 25^th of June 2002 and had its name changed to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

Fast forward 18 years later, AROB still remains to be the only autonomous province in PNG who has its own governing constitution and can establish its own institutions of government, hold elections for its government, make its own laws, establish its own courts, public service and police service.

More than a decade later, Bougainvilleans went on their way toward a non-binding independence referendum which was held in Bougainvillebetween November 23and December 7, 2019.

The recently held referendum holds the answer to the decision of our fellow citizens on whether they prefer to remain autonomous and part of Papua New Guinea or become an independent nation of their own.

It was clear that independence would seem the mostly voted option of governance and might have not come as a surprise to some but not the entire population of the country.

With polling ongoing in Bougainville and other centres of the nation at the moment, the decision by the PNG government on whether to keep AROB as part of PNG is still pending.

Whatever the outcome, the creation of a peaceful post-conflict Bougainville is absolutely critical for enabling delivery of socio-economic and political forms of development.

Amanda Kundil