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Countries and Regions Country Assistance Plans Document
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Country Assistance Plans - Solomon Islands : I. Country Performance Assessment
B. Assessment of Socio-Environmental Performance1. Poverty Issues5. The Human Poverty Index for the Solomon Islands is 49.1 which places the country among the poorest in the Pacific, and at par with some of the poorer African countries (Appendix 1, page 2). Most (nearly 80 per cent) of the population live a subsistence lifestyle in remote rural areas, without access to basic social services such as clean water, health services and education. Over twenty percent of children are malnourished, and seventy percent of adults are illiterate. Addressing these needs is one of the Government’s medium term priorities. However, there are fundamental issues that the Government has to deal with before it can begin to address poverty-related concerns in earnest. These include placing the Government’s financial affairs in order, settling arrears, establishing performance standards in different Government departments, and restoring private sector confidence in Government. In addition, management and administrative capacities need to be strengthened at all levels. Without proper management systems and controls in place, any development assistance to remote, rural areas is unlikely to reach intended beneficiaries. 6. There are a number of donor and non-government organisation (NGO) poverty-alleviation initiatives which may have potential for replication at a later stage with ADB assistance. A UNDP-financed participatory planning project had developed an approach for identifying poor households in rural communities and for formulating potential development assistance. An AusAID community-based water supply project has been effective in extending water and sanitation facilities in rural areas. The Solomon Islands is also considered to have among the most established and progressive NGOs operating in the Pacific. Moreover, the Government’s experience with community schools has demonstrated that local people are able to contribute their limited resources for services which they consider to be of great importance. This indicates that, in coming years, there may be scope in the ADB’s program to work in close partnership with Government, local communities, and NGOs on poverty alleviation programs. In preparation, the ADB proposes to conduct a poverty assessment of the Solomon Islands in 2000. 2. Gender Issues7. In rural areas, where 80 percent of the population resides, the lives of women center around growing and preparing food, collecting water and firewood, supervising livestock, and caring for children and the elderly. In urban areas, while males continue to dominate in money-earning activities, women's role in formal wage employment has increased, largely as a result of expansion in employment in teaching and medical services, and in low-wage clothing and fish-canning activities. Women are also active in the self-employed sector. 8. In 1992, about 81 per cent of primary school age girls were enrolled in primary school. However, women continue to be disadvantaged in both educational attainment and access. While there are usually the same proportion of girls and boys at the lower primary school levels, proportionately fewer girls complete Grade 6, fewer girls move on to secondary education, and even fewer complete the secondary cycle. In 1992, only 12 percent of the population of secondary school age girls were enrolled in secondary school. Girls accounted for only 38 percent of all secondary school students, and made up only 31 percent of Grade 12 students. It should be emphasized, however, that there has been a steady improvement in the enrolment of girls in recent years, particularly at the primary level. The real problem of female access comes at the secondary level, and may be related to traditional attitudes of parents who may want to avoid the possible loss of the economic services of a daughter who goes off to a secondary school far away from the home village. 9. The crucial feature of women's health in the Solomon Islands is that the underfunding of rural and preventive health programs bears more severely on women than men. The relatively greater impact on females comes from their role in growing and preparing food, collecting water, and caring for children and elderly. This means that they have front-line responsibility, in a way that males do not, for coping with the lack of clean water or proper sanitation, and lack of access to facilities for medical care for their family members. For this reason, a reallocation of the health dollar to give greater emphasis on primary and preventive health will have a major payoff in women's health and subsequently in the better health of all members of society. 3. Human Development10. Solomon Islands ranks second to last on the Human Development Index for Pacific Island nations and 164th on a global basis. (HDI = 0.314 in 1998). The nation has enduring problems of health, education and population growth. The country's archipelagic geography and cultural traditions have made progress on these problems difficult. The estimated adult literacy rate is about 30 percent and female literacy is well below the developing country average; primary school enrollment is about 39 percent, and the average student gets only three years of schooling; malaria is endemic with an annual incidence of 21 percent; life expectancy is 65 years; infant mortality is 38 per 1,000 births and 21 percent of under fives are underweight; and, underlying many of these problems, population growth is a high 3.3 percent a year (Appendix 1, page 2). The latter is causing substantial urban drift and associated youth unemployment. 4. Environment11. Uncontrolled, destructive logging has been a long-standing and serious problem, with irreparable damage being done to both the ecology and the future economy. Both legislation and its enforcement have been weak. Even with the recent collapse of log prices, log exports continue to exceed sustainable harvest levels. The new Government, however, is committed to establishing proper controls to ensure sustainable harvest levels, to maximize the capture of resource rents, and to reinvest the resultant cash flows prudently. Along these lines, the Government is working to reestablish the Timber Control Unit in the Department of Forests, to implement the Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting, to maintain the moratorium on the issuance of logging licenses, and to end all tax exemptions and remissions provided to loggers. The World Bank and AusAID have been assisting the Government in the formulation and implementation of a sound forestry sector strategy and policy framework. 12. Urban population growth is placing the towns, particularly Honiara, under increasing strain. Water supply in urban areas is limited and unreliable. Sewage disposal facilities are aged and inadequate to meet the growing demand. These are issues which the Government will need to address in the medium to long term.
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