Since 2015, we have had the opportunity to design and deliver multiple governance-related research projects in Solomon Islands ranging from elections to peacebuilding, access to justice, and women’s leadership and political participation. This has given us the opportunity to develop a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by different government, civil society and business organisations, and development partners and donors operating in this space.
One theme that has been common in much of our past work in Solomon Islands relates to understanding people’s perceptions and knowledge of key national issues, including the awareness of, and access to, the provision of certain government services. While this work provided important insights contributing to improved design and delivery of development partner programs, these previous projects did not explicitly explore the means through which Solomon Islanders do engage with formal government processes and exercise their civic responsibilities (beyond at the ballot box).
We are now excited to be starting on a new research project that seeks to better understand these processes through a baseline survey on Civic Knowledge and Citizenship Engagement in Solomon Islands and, in the process, contribute to the broader work of the Solomon Islands Governance Program. This will include establishing a baseline understanding of current perceptions related to this area and provide an evidence base for decision making.
We were very happy to re-connect with our Solomon Island field team during the recent scoping mission to jointly start preparations for the project, and continue to nurture our relationships with local research and advocacy institutions. We are continually striving to improve our approach to working across the diverse socio-political environment of the Solomon Islands and the many other countries that we support across Asia and the Pacific.
Keep an eye out for further updates on this important work in the coming months.
Further information
If you are interested in the past work that we have completed in Solomon Islands, the links below take you to publicly available reports:
UNDP, 2019 Access to Justice in Solomon Islands: Summary Report (report launch expected in July/August 2019)
UNDP, 2018 Research on women’s leadership and political participation in selected constituencies of Solomon Islands: Synthesis Report
UNDP, 2017 National Perceptions on Peacebuilding Solomon Islands: Summary Report
UNDP, 2016. Voter Awareness Survey / Voter Awareness Program Evaluation: Final Report
If you would like to discuss our experience or work in this space further, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with Tom at tom.sloan@sustineo.com.au. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for more posts like this!