The Solomon Islands is a nation of 900 plus islands that are spread over more than 1.5 million square kilometres of sea. The total land area of the country is about 28,000 square kilometres. The nation has a population of over 500,000 people, predominantly Melanesian (95 per cent), and sixty-three distinct language groups. Solomon Islands has a narrow economic base with more than 80 per cent of the population relying on subsistence agriculture and fishing. A key challenge is to broaden the productive economy beyond the reliance on forestry and fisheries.

Solomon Islands is currently on track to meet two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG4: reduce child mortality and MDG5: improve maternal health). However, challenges with the provision of essential services impact upon the ability to achieve all eight MDGs. Service delivery is made especially difficult by the geographic spread and that the majority of the population lives in remote and rural areas.

UnitingWorld has a long history of partnership with the United Church of Solomon Islands which has a membership of 56,000. The Church is structured around four regions and headquarters are based in Munda.

Families in Solomon Islands typically have little cash income and basic necessities drain what little they have. Women have a tradition of producing craft work in order to supplement incomes but need training and initial resources to develop and utilise their skills. Following initial consultations with women in communities, a pilot livelihood project was implemented which emphasised skills training and leadership capacity as well as awareness raising around relevant local issues, such as HIV, child mortality and family nutrition.

January 2012 Update

• The project was carried out on trial basis in two regions and was incredibly successful. During the trial, which came to an end in December 2011, training was carried out with over 600 women and youth in two regions.
• Training focused on leadership and social and health issues awareness including HIV, teenage pregnancy, child mortality and family nutrition. The participants were also trained in craft making including fabric dyeing, weaving and soap making. Training covered small business skills.
• As a result, women been empowered to sustain their own income and to effectively lead in their communities.
• Our partners have reported that the training brought women from different villages together in fellowship, including women from different church backgrounds. Encouragingly, local men came on board by preparing food for the training participants.
• This exciting project will now expand to four regions, reaching over 5000 people in 180 villages.

Downloadable Resources

Project Sheet