N avigating Solomon Islands Future

The civil unrest that started in late 1998 left the Solomon Islands with a deteriorating economy, weak government capacity, law and order problems, and led to the description of the Solomon Islands state as “the Pacific’s first failed state.” In July 2003 an Australian-led Pacific Islands Forum Regional Assistant Mission to Solomon Island (RAMSI) was deployed to help re-establish law and order, and rebuild the country.

Navigating Solomon Islands Future is a Pacific Islands Development Program-sponsored project, which aims to provide avenues for Solomon Islanders to reflect on their country’s past, and positively influence its future.

There are two components to the project. First, the project facilitated a workshop in Solomon Islands in June 2004. The workshop, titled, Beyond Intervention: Navigating Solomon Islands Future, brought together people from different sectors of the Solomon Islands society – public servants, provincial premiers, non-government organization representatives, civil society representatives, women, academics, business owners, church workers, students, and diplomats. The aim of the workshop was to provide a venue for Solomon Islanders and those interested in the Solomon Islands to reflect on issues that affect the country and discuss how the opportunities provided by RAMSI might be harnessed to build a better future for the country. More specifically, the workshop aimed to facilitate discussions, ideas, and strategies that will contribute to the ongoing efforts to build and sustain a stable, peaceful, and developed Solomon Islands beyond the intervention. [See workshop report here]

Second, the project facilitates workshops and writing amongst a number Solomon Islanders, with the objective of publishing an edited book in 2005. The book will provide reflections on the country’s past experiences and thoughts about the future. The authors include some established Solomon Islander scholars and thinkers as well as young emerging ones. They include: Dr. Transform Aqorau; Dr. David Welchman Gegeo; Gordon Nanau; Ruth Afia Maetala; Paul Roughan; Peter Forau; Joseph Foukona; and, Dr. Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka. 

Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka is the project manager for the Solomon Islands Futures project.