Francesca Rhianna Semoso is a politician and former broadcaster from the

Autonomous Region of Bougainville Bougainville ( ; ; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the re ...

. She has held the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the

Bougainville House of Representatives The Bougainville House of Representatives is the legislature of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, an autonomous entity within Papua New Guinea. It was established in 2005 under Part 5 of the region's constitution, which specifies that the Ho ...

; prior to her political career she was a radio broadcaster at the National Broadcasting Commission of Papua New Guinea.

Life

Semoso was a broadcaster at the

National Broadcasting Commission The National Broadcasting Commission is the broadcast regulator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The commission was set up on August 24, 1992, by Decree 38 of 1992 later amended as an act of the National Assembly by Act 55 of 1999 and now known ...

for ten years and later joined private radio station UMI FM for a period of four years. In 2003 she moved back to Bougainville to participate in the post-civil war peace process. She joined the Bougainville Constitutional Commission, and campaigned for the inclusion of Temporary Special Measures in the Constitution to provide reserved seats for women in the new parliament. Semoso was elected as a member of parliament in 2005 in the North Bougainville Women's Constituency seat. She also served as the Deputy Chairperson on the Standing Order Committee and on the Parliament Business Committee. She stood for and won the same seat again in the 2015 election. Semoso also works with the Bougainville Women’s Federation to address violence against women and other issues affecting women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semoso, Francesca Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Speakers of the Bougainville House of Representatives Members of the Bougainville House of Representatives Bougainvillean women in politics Papua New Guinean women in politics Papua New Guinean broadcasters People from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville