Solomon Islands is one of the least developed among ADB's Pacific developing member countries (PDMCs). Measured by the most recent United Nations Human Development Index and Human Poverty Index, Solomon Islands ranked below all but one PDMC. The Solomon Islands is far behind and unlikely to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Even before the conflict erupted in 2000, significant inequalities existed between urban and rural incomes. Nearly 85% of the population lives in rural areas.
In 1999, education indicators were very low. Primary enrollment rates were the lowest of all PDMCs, and literacy was extremely low. The gender gap had narrowed, but remained noticeable in school enrollment and in literacy rates. P rimary school enrollments were very low. The infant mortality rate had decreased substantially between 1978 and 1999. Maternal mortality, however, was extremely high in 1999. About 69% of the rural population had access to clean water and 23% of the total population had access to sanitation facilities.
Poverty worsened with the near collapse of the economy, and t he majority of Solomon Island households can be considered poor as a result of the conflict. Although d ata are insufficient to update MDG indicators, social conditions have almost certainly worsened over the period of ethnic tension and conflict, and disparities between the capital Honiara and the provinces remain wide.
| Progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and Targets | ||||
| Goals and Targets | 1990 | 1995 | Latest Year | |
| Goal 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger | ||||
| Target 1 : Reduce incidence of extreme poverty by half from 1990 to 2015 | ||||
| • Proportion of population below US$1 per day (PPP-values) (%) | | | | |
| • Poverty gap ratio | | | | |
| • Share of poorest quintile in national consumption (%) | | | | |
| Target 2 : Reduce the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half from 1990 to 2015 | ||||
| • Prevalence of child malnutrition (% of children under 5) | 23.0 (1989) | 23.0 (1998) | 21.0 | (1999) |
| • Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (%) | | | | |
| Goal Achieve Universal Primary Education | ||||
| Target 3 : Attain 100 percent primary school enrolment by 2015 | ||||
| • Net enrollment ratio in primary education (%) | 83.3 | 56.0 (1999) | 66.0 | (2001) |
| • Proportion of pupils starting Grade 1 who reach Grade 5 | 84.9 | 81.2 | | |
| • Literacy rate of 15-24 year olds (%) | | | | |
| Goal Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women | ||||
| Target 4 : Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015 | ||||
| • Ratio of girls to boys in: (%) Primary education Secondary education Tertiary education (USP enrollments) | 86.0 63.0 |
86.1 (1999) 69.6 (1999) 30.0 (1995) | 87.4 75.4 50.0 |
(2001) (2001) (2003) |
| • Ratio of young literate females to males (% of age group 15-24) | | | 90.1 | (1999) |
| • Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector | 23.2 (1986) | | 29.6 | (1999) |
| • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament | 0.0 | 2.1 (1997) | 0.0 | (2005) |
| Goal Reduce Child Mortality | ||||
| Target 5 : Reduce infant and child mortality by two-thirds from 1990 to 2015 | ||||
| • Under-5 mortality rate (per 000 live births) | 36.0 | 30.0 | 22.0 | (2003) |
| • Infant mortality rate (per 000 live births) | 29.0 | 25.0 | 19.0 | (2003) |
| • Proportion of 1 year old children immunized against measles | 92.0 (1989) | 68.0 | 78.0 | (2003) |
| Goal Improve Maternal Health | ||||
| Target 6 : Reduce maternal mortality rate by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 | ||||
| • Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) | 550.0 (1992) | 209.0 (1997) | 130.0 | (2000) |
| • Births attended by skilled health staff (% of live births) | 85.4 (1994) | 85.0 (1999) | 85.0 | (2001) |
| Goal Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases | ||||
| Target 7 : Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS | ||||
| • HIV prevalence rate among: (%) 15-24 year old pregnant women Adult rate (aged 15-49) | |
|
<0.1 |
(2000) |
| • Contraceptive prevalence rate (% of women aged 15-49) | | 10.6 (1997) | 6.8 | (2001) |
| • Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS | | | | |
| Target 8 : Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases | ||||
| • Malaria: Prevalence rate (per 100,000 people) Death rate (per 100,000 people) | 44,853 (1992) 10.8 (1992) | |
16,170 13.6 |
(2002) (2002) |
| • Proportion of population in malaria risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures | | 53.0 (1999) | 42.0 | (2002) |
| • Tuberculosis (TB): Prevalence rate (per 100,000 people) Death rate (per 100,000 people) | 120.1 30.0 | 73.9 (1996) 6.3 (1994) | 55.0 14.8 |
(2002) (2002) |
| • Proportion of TB cases: DOTS detection rate (%) DOTS treatment success (%) | |
57.0 (1996) 65.0 (1995) | 107.0 90.0 |
(2003) (2003) |
| Goal Ensure Environmental Sustainability | ||||
| Target 9 : Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources | ||||
| • Forest area (% of total land area) | 92.2 | | 90.6 | (2000) |
| • Nationally protected areas (% of total land area) | | 0.0 | 0.0 | (2004) |
| • GDP per unit of energy use (PPP$ per kg oil equivalent) | | | | |
| • Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita metric tons) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | (2002) |
| Target 10 : Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water | ||||
| • Access to an improved water source (% of population) Total Urban Rural | 82.0 58.0 |
29.8 (1999) 80.9 (1999) 21.8 (1999) | 70.0 94.0 65.0 |
(2002) (2002) (2002) |
| Target 11 : By 2010, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers | ||||
| • Access to improved sanitation (% of population) Total Urban Rural | 73.0 2.0 |
22.8 (1999) 87.8 (1999) 15.1 (1999) | 31.0 98.0 18.0 |
(2002) (2002) (2002) |
| • Access to secure tenure (slum population as % of urban population [secure tenure index]) | 7.9 | | 7.9 | (2001) |
| = not available; < = less than the specified amount; DOTS = directly observed treatment, short course; GDP = gross domestic product; kg = kilogram; HIV/AIDS = human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; PPP = purchasing power parity; USP = University of the South Pacific Sources: Department of Development Planning (DDP), The Availability of Economic and Social Statistics for Sustainable Human Development in Solomon Islands (Mar-00); Government of Solomon Islands/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Solomon Islands Human Development Report 2002; Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Regional Millennium Development Goals Report 2004 , Statistical Annex, available online at (http://www.spc.int/mdgs ; SPC, Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM) (http://www.spc.int/PRISM); United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), Common Country AssessmentSolomon Islands (Mar-02); United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Environmental Indicators South Pacific (2004); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2003/4; UNESCO, Institute for Statistics (http://portal.unesco.org/uis ); United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Millennium Indicator Database (2003), available online at (http://millenniumindicators.un.org); World Bank, World Development Indicators database (April-04); World Health Organization (WHO), Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), Western Pacific Region Health Databank, various revisions (2001, 2002, 2004), available online at (http://www.wpro.who.int); WHO, The World Health Report (2004-2005); WHO/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, Coverage Estimates 1980-2000 ( http://www.unicef.org/programme/wes ). |
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