14 July 2019
A rising population is intensifying the need for urgent and effective funding of the Solomon Islands National Development Plan
The Solomon Islands government will conducts its National Census this year in November when, subsequently, the population figure is expected to reveal a population of 700,000 but possibly more.
The Solomon Islands has one of the highest population growth rates in the world, and, increasingly, causing many environmental issues.
The rising population growth is putting huge pressure on the limited land are to meet the subsistence and economic needs of the people and even more environmental problems are foreseen.
To complicate things further, the impact of climate change is making it all the more difficult for rural people to meet their daily needs through subsistence farming.
The land resources of Solomon Islands are finite, and the capacity of that land to maintain and improve the quality of life of its people needs to be considered in conjunction with the ever-growing population.
One of the primary aims of the current national development plan is to improve the quality of life of the population as a whole and to ensure environmental degradation is further avoided.
In following through on a basic needs approach to human development the government must have strategies, development plans and policies and have, as an explicit priority objective, the promotion of employment and the satisfaction of basic needs for the country’s population, including adequate food, shelter and clothing, essential services such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport, health, education and cultural facilities.
Such an approach requires adequate funding resources which are not yet apparent and pressure is undoubtedly growing on the SIG to determine all forms of assistance from development partners, and likely ‘others’ to ensure effective coordination with the government’s domestic resources.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
