BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
The Solomon Islands Endim Vaelens Agenstim Pikinini (SIEVAP) project, Make It 18 Report 2022 -2025, is a call to arms, said New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Rebecca Williams.
Commissioner Williams said during the presentation and handover of the report to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA), Friday last week at the Honiara Hotel.
In recognition of the SIEVAP work in keeping children in Solomon Islands safe and advocating for that can empower children Mrs Williams said that the task is difficult and confronting for SIEVAP as frontline responders.
“New Zealand is honoured to be partnering with you in this work,” she said.
She said that children and young people are the Solomon Islands’ greatest sources of strength, and supporting them to be safe and to harness their full potential as future leaders and innovators is essential for a more stable, resilient and inclusive Solomon Islands.
“This report is a call to arms. All children and young people deserve to grow up with a chance to reach their full potential. We know that girls and boys who get married young are less likely to stay in school and less likely to fulfil their full economic potential,” said Williams.
She also notes that the report is a great example of the value of all voices feeding into policy decisions.
“SIEVAP have shown the collective strength of children as advocates. Together with children, youth, parents, caregivers, faith-based and community leaders, NGOs, national and provincial governments, let’s make it a reality. Let’s make it a team in all communities across Honiara and all Solomon Islands,” concludes Williams.
To contribute to this effort, the SIEVAP coalition partner agencies of Save the Children, World Vision, and Child Fund undertook a series of community consultations in Honiara, Malaita, Western and Choiseul provinces on child marriage and whether the Islanders Married Act should be amended.
The Law Reform Commission Office also collaborated with SIEVAP to roll out these consultations.
After the report was drafted, the SIEVAP coalition convened an implementation and enforcement workshop with key government stakeholders and civil society to discuss possible challenges if the law is reformed to prevent child marriages and the potential solutions.
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