PRESS RELEASE(46/11)
30th June 2011
The Solomon Islands – RAMSI (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands) partnership made significant achievements in its work in 2010, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Secretary General, Tuiloma Neroni Slade announced today.
Mr Slade, who is in Honiara for the 5th Forum Ministerial Standing Committee on RAMSI said details of these achievements are set out in the 2010 Annual Performance Report prepared by the Independent Experts Team on the work of RAMSI. The Report was endorsed by the Joint Performance Oversight Group, co-chaired by the Solomon Islands Prime Minister and the RAMSI Special Coordinator, in March this year.
The Report will be discussed during the meeting of the Forum Ministerial Standing Committee on RAMSI which got underway in Honiara this morning.
According to the report, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), with the support of the RAMSI Participating Police Force and military contingent, undertook a massive planning exercise for the national elections in 2010 and successfully managed both the safety and security aspects of the elections.
Progress was also made in capacity development and organizational change.
The Correctional Services of Solomon Islands continues to be on track to comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners and is steadily consolidating the systems set in place, the report states.
The report states that through improved consultation mechanisms led by the Solomon Islands Government, RAMSI now has a better picture of the needs of the justice sector and is working with the Solomon Islands justice agencies to better their needs and the needs of Solomon Islanders.
The introduction of new financial management systems and the passage of a number of micro-economic reforms have also helped create a stable platform for more effective economic management in Solomon Islands.
As a result of these reforms, at the end of 2010, and in spite of the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis, Solomon islands not only achieved a surplus and overall gain in GDP/capita but also paid down its sovereign debt levels considerably and successfully implemented large parts of the an IMF reform package.
The RAMSI 2010 Annual Performance Report also states that significant achievements were made under the Machinery of Government pillar, including supporting the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission in the successful running of the national elections, the ongoing roll-out of the new payroll system – Aurion- which has led to a number of important savings and better information capture and use across the public sector and the completion of audits of entities such as Solomon Airlines which had previously been contracted out to commercial auditors.
ENDS.
For media enquiries, contact Mr Johnson Honimae, the Forum Secretariat’s Media Officer on phone: 677 7468546 or email: johnsonh@forumsec.org.fj
