BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Minister for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs, Cathy Nori, has said her Ministry will continue to seek an increase in budget.
She said that when she presented the Public Account Committee (PAC) recommendation to the Ministry on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, during the Committee of Supply proceedings.
She said that the Ministry will strategically prepare a budget with costed annual plans to convince the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and National Planning and Development to allocate funding.
She adds that the Ministry had requested additional funding but has always been reduced by the budget team at the Ministry of Finance, even with Cabinet approval in previous years.
“Under the Family Protection Act 2014, reviewed by multi-sectoral partners in 2023, the recommendations came up with 43 recommendations were made. One of them was to build a care centre for victims of violence against women and girls. As a result, the Ministry, along with the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, have submitted together a combined Cabinet paper requesting funding to build a care centre for each province for victims of gender-based violence and violence against children to provide accommodation and support to access safe net services before they can be discharged. The combined Cabinet paper was approved, but there was no allocation given,” said Mrs Nori.
She said that her Ministry will follow up with a conclusion on the combined submission and budget for 2027 onwards.
“The approval then was for 20 million over five years,” she said.
She said that the ministry has revitalised the National Youth Congress and nine provincial youth councils, where the ministry will make a Cabinet paper for more funding to support these provincial youth councils.
“Currently, under the Ministry development budget, we are aiming to build a youth and children’s centre in the country. We have been supported in building youth and children’s centres in the Western, Malaita, Central, Temotu and Isabel provinces. These are at the tendering stage. For Makira Ulawa province, the bid is for next year, 2026,” she said.
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