Veronica Simogun

Veronica Tamar Simogun is currently the Director of the Family for Change Association based in Wewak, East Sepik province, Papua New Guinea. Ms. Simogun was born in Urip village in the Boykin/Dagua area of Wewak, East Sepik Province in 1962. She studied at the Civil Aviation Training College and graduated with a Certificate in civil aviation in 1981. She worked with the Department of Civil Aviation for six years before moving back to her home village in 1986 to assist her church and community in the promotion of safe and healthy living. Ms. Simogun has been working to help women affected by violence ever since. In 2012, she formed the Family for Change Association, which she continues to run. Ms. Simogun’s life-long desire has been to see strong communities with happy families, where families are secure and women and children live free from violence and intimidation. Risking her own safety, she has directly intervened to protect women experiencing gender-based violence. In the face of death threats from the perpetrators of violence, she has helped shelter and relocate victims on multiple occasions. Ms. Simogun funds much of this work herself. She is married and has five children.