It’s a frustrating paradox for funders and communities alike-strong initial engagement followed by a gradual "impact decay," not because women disengage, but because the systems around them remain unchanged.
A recent workshop in Papua New Guinea suggests a more durable, higher-impact model. Co-hosted by Grass Skirt Project and the British High Commission, the "Women’s Economic Empowerment through Sports" workshop didn't focus on changing women. Instead, it focused on redesigning the systems that surround them. By treating sport as infrastructure rather than just an activity, the workshop surfaced a powerful new blueprint for creating change that lasts.
Here are five of the most powerful and surprising lessons that emerged from this innovative approach- actionable intelligence for any funder or program designer seeking sustainable returns on social investment.
The most fundamental shift in perspective was reframing sport from a series of events into a durable, community-owned platform for leadership and economic opportunity. Instead of simply funding participation, this approach intentionally designs sport as a system that can create and sustain value long after a specific program ends. This turns sport into a "platform for durable, safeguard-driven economic pathways."
This reframing was not lost on the participants, who saw the potential to leverage a structure already trusted within their communities for new purposes.
“I learned that sport is not just about playing- it can create opportunities for women to earn income and become leaders in our communities.”
For funders, this reframing is critical; it reduces delivery risk while simultaneously increasing the return on social investment by building on a structure already trusted and resourced within communities. It’s a high-leverage investment in community-owned infrastructure, not just short-term activities.
The workshop identified a core "design problem" that explains why so many empowerment programs fail to create lasting change. The issue isn't a lack of effort or skill on the part of women. It's that they are often asked to operate within systems that were not designed with women's safety as a prerequisite, rely on individual behaviour change without shifting the environment, and create participation opportunities without legitimate pathways into paid or recognised roles. This mismatch leads to impact decay as soon as external support is withdrawn.
The solution, then, is not to fix the individual but to redesign the environment. Participants articulated this concept with remarkable clarity, seeing it as a move toward true structural fairness.
“In my own words, “redesigning the rules” means creating a fairer playing field for women in sport- breaking away from old barriers and systems that limited participation. It’s about shaping new opportunities, giving women equal voice and leadership, and ensuring that the structures of sport reflect inclusion, respect, and empowerment. It’s not just changing how the game is played, but also how women are valued within it.”
Counter-intuitively, the workshop did not approach women as individuals who needed to be "empowered" from an external source. Instead, it started from the premise that women are already leading within their communities, often in informal, unrecognised, and unpaid roles.
The challenge is not a lack of leadership capacity, but the absence of formal recognition and protected pathways that can convert that informal leadership into paid positions or formal decision-making power. The workshop focused on identifying and legitimising these existing contributions. This is more than a philosophical shift; it is a strategic one. Legitimising existing leadership accelerates impact without requiring continual, costly retraining or external delivery.
"Women were not positioned as needing to be “empowered,” but as leaders whose contributions require recognition, protection, and pathways."
The workshop highlighted that peace-building through sport is not just a theory but a practical, life-saving reality. This was powerfully illustrated by Sharon and Dickson from Tari, Hela Province- a region known for high levels of conflict.
They shared firsthand accounts of using community-driven rugby programs to reduce violence and unite divided communities. On the field, historical and tribal divisions fade, creating a rare and vital safe space for dialogue and reconciliation. Their message resonated strongly with participants from Port Moresby and Central Province, underscoring sport's unique ability to transform conflict by creating a shared identity.
“In Hela, we use rugby to bring tribes together. On the field, we are not the enemies- we are teammates”
Rather than treating safeguarding as a box-ticking exercise, the workshop embedded it as a visible, practical foundation for all activities. This was achieved through practical measures like trauma-informed facilitation, culturally grounded safety pathways, and explicit norms around respect and accountability from the outset.
The results were not just anecdotal. When safeguarding was made tangible and trusted, leadership behaviours emerged without prompting or instruction, and participation increased without the need for additional incentives. The post-event evaluation confirmed this, with 95.7% of respondents rating their feeling of safety and respect as a 5 out of 5.
“The Facilitators made the space very comfortable and safe. I felt proud to share my story”
The lessons from Papua New Guinea offer a clear and compelling blueprint for anyone invested in creating durable social change. The most effective path to empowerment isn't about repeatedly funding programs that focus on individuals. It's about making a high-leverage investment in redesigning the systems that surround them. By building pathways, creating safe infrastructure, and recognizing the leadership that already exists, we create the conditions for women's economic participation to not just emerge, but to sustain itself, reducing dependency on external aid.
This work reinforces a critical distinction: When systems remain unchanged, investments must be repeated to maintain outcomes. When systems adapt, outcomes persist.
"Short-term participation can be funded repeatedly. System change only needs to be funded once."
