The National Volunteer Service (NVS) has extended its New Guinea Islands (NGI) regional outreach to East New Britain Province, calling on partner organisations and skilled Papua New Guineans to join its growing volunteer programme.

The outreach follows a successful visit to West New Britain and forms part of the implementation of National Executive Council (NEC) Decisions 220 and 335 of 2025. The directives task the NVS, an agency under the Ministry of Defence, with expanding its national network to 900 professional volunteers to help address service delivery gaps in rural and underserved communities.

During the visit, the NVS team met with East New Britain Governor Hon. Michael Marum and Provincial Administrator Levi Mano to discuss opportunities for collaboration in key development sectors.

NVS management said the partnership aims to deploy qualified volunteers to support health, education, agriculture and community development programmes, while strengthening skills and knowledge at the grassroots level.

The East New Britain outreach builds on progress made in West New Britain, where plans are underway to establish the NGI Regional Volunteer Academy at Moramora Technical School.

NVS is now encouraging provincial authorities, District Development Authorities (DDAs), churches and non-government organisations to apply as host partners for volunteers. Organisations seeking support must demonstrate a genuine need and be able to provide accommodation and local support for volunteers.

The agency is also inviting qualified Papua New Guineans with degrees, diplomas or trade certificates in areas such as healthcare, teaching, agriculture and social work to submit Expressions of Interest to join the programme.

Over the past four days, the NVS team conducted awareness activities across East New Britain, visiting tertiary institutions, identifying potential volunteer placement sites, and engaging with key stakeholders. The outreach concluded with a debrief on Radio East New Britain (RENB) on Friday.