BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Peter Kenilorea Jnr the Leader of the Independent group has urged the Government for National Unity and Transformation to look beyond its achievements.
He made the statement highlighting key priority areas that would enable the Solomon Islands to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) group.
Kenilorea said that one of the core indicators emphasised regarding the LDC was the country’s Human Development Index (HDI).
“We have heard of achievements that the government has already done in the short time that they’ve been in government since the election,’’ he said.
He said that the Solomon Islands will continue to struggle to face challenges.
“That will continue for a while. We will continuously have to deal with as we move forward as a nation,’’ he said.
“Congratulate GNUT, Cabinet, ministers of the Crown, and backbenchers for leading the nation over the past few months. But I would also like to add the importance of looking at other indicators, beyond just these listing of achievements. And these are the Human Development Index or the HDI, one of those main ones that also governs whether we qualify to graduate from the LDC group,’’ he said.
“If you analyse that HDI over the past few years, you will find that we have been struggling, perhaps sluggish, perhaps in some of the sectors we have been going backwards a little bit,’’ he stated.
He said that the government should keep an eye on these indicators to get the people and the nation on track towards graduation.
He said that the HDI allows the Solomon Islands to see its scores based on United Nations assessments and analyses allowing the Country to guide its policies to focus a little bit further on ongoing work and work done.
He said that the field of education is one particular sector that needs more focus based on the HDI index.
He said that health and education are the two biggest factors within these HDIs as they focus on the social aspect of a nation.
“So, the idea that we need to look into these sectors is something that the Parliament is fully aware of, because, as we know, the biggest parts of our budget are education and health,’’ he said.
He said that reflects the focus on the need to lift the country’s scores and ranking as a nation in the Human Development Index.
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