80. The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey secured SBD$ 13 million under the Participatory Slum Upgrading Program to support efforts for urban profiling, regularisation of temporary occupation licenses and improved planning practices. Housing and access to land remains a critical component for the overall management and strategic planning for towns or urban centres. Two Ministries39 had built houses to accommodate their staff although shortages of housing in provincial centres remain a challenge for effective service delivery across the country in all sectors but more so in education and health.
81. In 2015, the Solomon Islands consolidated national guidelines on the use of Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) for preventing and treating HIV among adults, adolescents and children. The Government developed national guidelines for HIV Testing Services.
Currently, reproductive health, immunisation programs are extended to all rural and provincial clinics. Nine out of ten Provincial Centres all have access to a hospital, nurse aid post or clinics.
82. The MHMS through its reproductive health and adolescent programs undertook inclusive sexual reproductive health training for women and girls including PWD and conducted awareness and education talks for communities and schools. Youth friendly clinics were established in Lata, Vonunu (Western Province) and in Kukum and Rove in Honiara providing counselling services on family planning, STI/HIV-AIDS counselling and the use of contraceptives.40
83. A comprehensive life skills and sex education syllabus has been incorporated into the school curriculum. Piloting began at schools in Honiara, Temotu and Choiseul
material in schools. A baseline research on abortion is underway and expected to be completed in 2015.
84. The Government recognises that supplying adequate, reliable safe water to the highly dispersed, largely rural population is a major challenge and relies on partnerships with development partners, local communities and faith based organisations to carry this out.41 This partnership is highly valued given limited availability of WASH data; shortage of trained local hydrologists, water engineers, sanitation specialists, technicians and plumbers. The integrated National Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Sector Plan 2013-2025 was developed as a response to concerns of rural and urban communities about water supply and sanitation prioritising the provision of adequate, safe water to hospitals, clinics and schools, increased use of household & community rainwater harvesting and improved urban and peri-urban drainage. The Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) embarked on projects to supply boreholes and water re-piping in Honiara and identified provinces.
F. Human rights issues (Education, electoral system, democracy, labour and disability) (Recommendations 80.39, 80.45–49, 81.56–58, 81.12–15, 81.22–23, 81.30–32, 81.37)
85. The Government continues to implement a fee- free basic education policy covering year 1 to Year 9 to promote access to education, although parents still pay other related costs. According to the MEHRD Performance Assessment Framework, there were more boys (51%) enrolled at ECE level than girls (49%) in 2013. The total enrolment at primary level in 2013 increased by 21.2%,42 and more female (52%) students were enrolled at secondary level than males (48%). This trend shows that gender balance is slowly being realised in enrolment.
86. SINU recently introduced diploma and bachelor programs in health and applied science at the University.
87. A recommendation noted from the on-going review of the Education Act is for pregnant female students to return to mainstream education system after giving birth. This will increase opportunities for such students to further their education.
88. A literacy unit in MEHRD has been established and Technical Assistance is engaged to provide advice and support to literacy initiatives nationwide. This Unit helps in conducting a review on the Literacy Framework and curriculum materials.
89. Statistics on the overall literacy performance show that females performed better than males from Level 3 upwards. Numeracy data shows that both males and females achieved similar results at all levels.
90. Solomon Islands uses the First Past The Post electoral system for the election of representatives at the national and provincial levels. The candidate with the highest number of votes is declared an elected member to the Parliament and the Provincial Assembly. The 2014 elections saw the introduction of a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) System to detect multiple registrations and improve registration accuracy and integrity of the ballot.
85% of persons eligible to vote were registered. Of this, 139,059 were women (48%). The BVR increased public confidence in the integrity of the register.
91. National and provincial awareness raising programs on the new BVR were carried out by both government and NGOs through print and broadcast media and consultations at provincial level. To promote transparency in 2014 elections, regional and international observers were deployed to the Solomon Islands at the invitation of the SIG.
92. The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission recently created a website which provides information on the electoral processes.
93. The government remains committed to development and this is clear from the government’s active participation in a number of inter-governmental negotiations on Financing for Development, Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consultations were held through MDPAC on the SDGs, which once adopted will be mainstreamed into the NDS. SIG remains committed to strengthening partnerships between the Private Sector, Faith Based Organisations and Civil Society for the benefit of its citizens.
94. The establishment of the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) unit at the MHMS strengthened the promotion of rights of persons with disabilities at community level. The CBR office continues to build the capacity of its staff work in collecting disability data as the basis to draw planning strategies on how to address social services needs of PWD nationwide. The CBR established focal points throughout the nine (9) provinces to carry on awareness raising on the ratification of the CRPD, participation of women with disabilities in the 16 days of activism and the participation of PWD in sports in the Paralympic games at national and international level. These are measures towards mainstreaming of disability issues at all levels of society.
95. With the recent review of the NPDID 2013-2018, the CBR Office is working closely with relevant government departments to ensure that mechanisms for implementation of the CRPD are planned and budgeted for as pre-emptive steps to ratifying CRPD. These include infrastructure such as ramps, a user-friendly public transportation system and accessibility to government buildings.
96. Some developments in areas such as Gizo (Western Province) have access ramps built at the newly constructed hospital, the ANZ bank and planned for the Tourism Information Office. The High Court in Honiara has access for wheel chairs. Apart from education centres for persons with disabilities, there is currently no plan in place for accommodation for those with disabilities. PWD are often kept at home with immediate family members except for those who have access to basic education through the CSO initiatives such as the San Isidro School or Bethseda in Honiara. The Special Development Centre operated by the Red Cross provides a friendly learning environment for children with special needs from ECE to Primary level.
97. The Ministry of Infrastructural Development (MID) have no set policies but as a matter of principle and recognising the need to improve accessibility for PWD persons with disability, MID considers disability in design of buildings, transport infrastructure and transport services (accessibility and connectivity). The government acknowledges the assistance of the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and New Zealand and Australia in sending consultants to undertake disability infrastructure audits.
98. The Government has faced challenges in the provision of mental health care since the closure of the National Psychiatric Unit at the National Referral Hospital in 2012.
However, community client rehabilitation, home visits and mental health promotion remain priority initiatives in the provision of mental health services.
G. Environment, climate change, mining and disaster risk reduction (Recommendations 81.34, 81.36)
99. Solomon Islands continue to push for greater efforts to mitigate climate change and its impacts.
100. A Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment was completed in 27 communities in Choiseul Province in 2013 with support from SPC.43 The assessment prompted plans to adopt an integrated and holistic approach to climate change adaptation at provincial level. The strong presence of logging in the province and increasing pressure on terrestrial and marine ecosystems cause high community vulnerabilities and low adaptive capacity. Seven communities were selected to implement adaptation measures such as protection of water resources; restoration of water catchment areas; increasing water storage capacity; coral reef and mangrove ecosystem management; minimising fishing of key species on the reef; marine and fisheries management planning; increased disaster preparedness, planning for food shortages from disasters and development of emergency procedures for tropical cyclones, flooding or tsunami events.
101. The Government is working towards increasing food security in Ontong Java, Sikaiana (Malaita Province) and Fenualoa (Temotu Province) as part of the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC). Community-based Marine Resource Management (CBRM) is an important step in empowering communities to manage their resources and livelihoods. Based on lessons learnt from rural coastal communities in Western and Isabel provinces, CBRM awareness programs are facilitated using a gendered perspective.44 102. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRR/DRM) remains a key priority for the Solomon Islands. A national Risk Resilient Development Working Group was established to support mainstreaming of DRM into government, community and private sector activities and promote resilience at community level.
103. In the past four years, Solomon Islands grappled with a number of natural disasters including, four tropical cyclones, a flash flood, earthquakes, tsunamis, wave surges and landslides. Each of these events has had a crippling effect on the economy, infrastructure and already stretched human and financial resources. For example, at the height of the 2014 flash floods, 4500 people were in evacuation centres in Guadalcanal province; 1110 houses assessed were either destroyed or damaged; 9000 households in Honiara, Guadalcanal and Isabel Provinces lost 75-100 per cent of their food gardens; drinking water remained a concern for an estimated 25000 people.45 A rapid socio-economic impact assessment estimated that the total cost of damages and losses during the flash floods at damage at SBD 787 million (US$108 million) or 9.7 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. In 2013, more than 6,000 people were affected, eleven people died and 23 communities substantially damaged following the 8.0 earth-quake and tsunami in Temotu.
The earthquake and subsequent tsunami damaged housing, water sources and systems, health clinics, schools, roads, wharves, food gardens and other means of livelihoods such as fishing equipment. The replacement value of all the assets in the Solomon Islands is 3.6 billion USD, of which about 86% represents buildings and 12% represents infrastructure.46
H. Cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms (Recommendations 79.8, 80.24, 81.3, 81.33, 81.38)
104. Solomon Islands extended standing invitations to Special Procedure mandate holders in 2011. The Independent Expert (IE) on the Effects of Foreign Debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights visited the Solomon Islands in February 2011. The report by the IE highlighted the need for better accountability measures to enable government to account for public expenditures. The government noted the lack of human rights frameworks that involves government development strategy and is taking steps to rectify this.
105. The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dr. Rashida Manjoo held consultations with Government and CSO stakeholders in March 2012.47 The report on Violence Against Women also highlighted the need for legislative review and the enactment of laws that address the issue of violence faced by women in Solomon Islands society. The implementation of the Family Protection Act 2014 speaks to this recommendation and is a testament that government is addressing this as a priority area despite it was taking time to progress this.
106. The Special Representative of the SG on Violence Against Children, Ms. Marta Santos Pais visited the Solomon Islands in May 2015.
107. A common core document was drafted ahead of the CEDAW review in 2013. It has not been updated since and will require Cabinet endorsement before it is finalised.
108. The government recognises the important role of the OHCHR, Commonwealth Secretariat and regional partners such as PIFS and SPC-RRRT in building the capacity of public sector employees and in the preparation of human rights reports to the United Nations. In this regard, training and capacity-building initiatives were undertaken for Government officials preparing for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2013; CEDAW report and constructive dialogue in Geneva 2014; the preparation for the UPR report (2014–2015) and regional Treaty-body training in 2015.
109. Four gender focal points from the MDPAC, MJLA, MCILI and MWYCFA, and representatives from the National Statistics Office attended a regional gender and human rights statistic reporting workshop in Fiji in 201448. A key outcome of the workshop was the development of a Gender Statistics Framework for SI and Pacific countries by SPC.
Work on the Gender Statistics Framework is ongoing and is envisaged to be completed in 2015.
I. Treaty ratifications and treaty reporting (Recommendations 81.1–13, 81.16–17)
110. While recognising the importance of treaties, the Government is also aware of the responsibility of creating an enabling environment for the realistic domestication and implementation of the same.
111. Solomon Island ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (C138) in April 2013;
the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (C182) in April 2012; and the 1958 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (C111) in April 2012.
112. The implementation and domestication of the four ratified human rights treaties,49 is still a work in progress. Following the CEDAW review in 2014, the SIG is taking steps to widely disseminate the concluding observations. The combined second, third and fourth CRC report is awaiting cabinet endorsement. Discussions are underway on the possible ratification of the CRC-Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children and the CRPD.
113. Treaty reporting on CERD and ICESCR is yet to be carried out. In view of this, any further ratification can only be given consideration once these reporting commitments are dealt with.
V. Achievements, best practices, challenges and constraints
114. The enactment of legislation against domestic violence is an important achievement in the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children. Equally notable are
the improvements in the standards of correctional facilities for incarcerated persons, and efforts to combat the impact of climate change using various adaptation methodologies.
115. The continued improvements in the electoral system speak to the government’s priorities in strengthening its democratic system. The on-going consultations on the draft federal constitution also highlight the Government’s intention to ensure that the views of all Solomon Islanders are taken into account.
116. Challenges remain in the simplification of human rights language so that concepts are understandable and user friendly for communities especially in rural areas. Human, financial and capacity constraints are a hindrance in undertaking human rights focused work (including the domestication of provisions of international treaties) at all levels of society.
117. The availability of up-to-date national statistics to verify progress in the attainment of human rights across the country is a challenge. It is further compounded by the geographical dispersion of the islands and limited access to basic service delivery. SIG acknowledges the need to streamline sources of national data, make it user friendly for the purpose of national reporting and policy-making and is taking steps to develop a national statistics strategy that will address this.
118. Some traditional practices continue to deter the equal participation of all members of society especially women in rural areas where cultural norms determine the perspectives and behaviours of the rural population. However, Solomon Islands have matrilineal societies where women are inherently leaders with authority over their land and resources.
119. The impacts of climate change such as sea level rise have affected inter alia land use rights and food security.
VI. Key national priorities, initiatives and commitments
120. The Solomon Islands will continue to undertake reviews of its laws and policies to address the changing needs of its people and environment. These include gender equality, the enhancement of the rights of women and children, economic empowerment, law and order and access to justice. The Government is committed to working with development partners in ensuring that gender mainstreaming is filtered across the public service with identifiable best practices.
121. Priorities in the implementation of the DCCG policy include the NDS review to include SDGs, establishment of an independent Anti-Corruption Commission and the creation of an environment conducive for economic growth and improved service delivery to the most marginalised communities.
122. SIG recognises the need to streamline human rights reporting (UPR and treaty body reporting) and improve inter-ministerial co-ordination of the process. The SIG is committed to the establishment a centralised committee that will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating progress on human rights issues. The Committee will also be responsible for the submission of human rights reporting obligations through a consultative process in a timely manner. Greater collaboration with the Parliament Foreign Relations Committee is envisaged so that human rights commitments are brought to the attention of legislators for their consideration and action.
VII. Capacity-building and requests for technical support
123. The Government identifies the need to develop a broad program on human rights which includes training and capacity-building for the public sector. Pivotal to human rights education is the need for regular, accurate statistics, monitoring and evaluation.
124. The SIG also recognises that there are new and emerging issues that relate to the climate change, environment/private sector and human rights which need to be addressed by strengthening the laws/policies and enforcement framework. Continued financial and technical assistance is requested to support national endeavours by aligning donor assistance to national priorities until such time that the country is technically capable of meeting its obligations.
VIII. Voluntary commitments
125. The Solomon Islands Government has pledged to undertake the following during the course of this second UPR cycle: a) Create a national taskforce that is responsible for all national human rights reporting (including labour and international humanitarian law), monitoring and evaluating state progress on the implementation of these treaties and mechanisms; (b) Incorporate human rights and its implementation and funding needs into the National Development Strategy; (c) Submit Solomon Islands state report on its implementation of ICESCR and CERD; (d) Carry out an assessment on current potential to implement CRPD prior to ratification; (e) Undertake learning and sharing experiences with other Pacific Island countries on human rights including establishment of NHRIs.
IX. Conclusion
126. The Government of Solomon Islands is committed to ensuring the progressive realisation in the implementation, promotion and protection of Human Rights within the country. Such efforts are undertaken against a backdrop of limited capacities and resource constraints. The SIG acknowledges the support of its development partners (bilateral counterparts, UN agencies, and other international and regional organisations) and calls on the same to continue to assist its endeavours to provide an environment that is conducive to the well-being and betterment of the people of Solomon Islands.
Notes
1 Provincial Governments, Civil Society Organisations, Government Ministries, Parliament, UN and Development Partners.
2 With a specific Terms of Reference and a tentative timeline matched with various activities, to coordinate consultations with relevant stakeholders within government, the civil society, development partners and at provincial level. As the Secretariat, UN Desk in the MFAET, working with legal desk had the responsibility to call meetings and coordinate consultation processes.
3 The Ministries Health and Medical Services (MHMS), Education and Human Resources
Development (MEHRD), Finance and Treasury (MoFT) in particular the National Statistics Office (NSO), Development Planning and Aid Coordination (MDPAC), Home Affairs (MHA) in particular the Registry of Births, Public Solicitor’s Office, Law Reform Commission, Ministry of
Women,Youth Children and Family Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. CSO representation- Development Services Exchange (DSE).
4 For dissemination to all NGOs and relevant inter-government agencies.
4 For dissemination to all NGOs and relevant inter-government agencies.