Community Engagement in Post Conflict Situation: the Case of Solomon Islands

Kaua T¹*, Sore R¹*

1. Solomon Islands Government, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a diverse, vast and multi-layered society. It was non-recognition of such diversity and vastness and lack of appreciation of a multi-layered society that led to three and half years of ethnic crisis.

In the short term, interventions by the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) restored law and order and brought back peace. However, sustaining law and order and permanence of peace in the country requires active forms of community engagement.

The Governments Programme of Action (POA 2002-2005) is a short-term policy agenda that stems from minimal community engagement. The National Economic Recovery, Reform and Development Plan (NERRDP 2003-2006) is merely a medium term plan developed with very little consultation. These, policy documents, though developed at a time of the conflict contain superficial solutions to the prevention of future conflicts.

Community engagement in a post conflict Solomon Islands society needs to dig deeper into the diversity, vastness and multi-layered richness of the country. Essential, in this regard, there is a need for institutional and capacity building of community structures. At the same time, crucially necessary is the process of bottom up approach to development planning and budget formulation.

The paper on ‘Community Engagement in Post Conflict Situation: The Case of Solomon Islands’ looks at options of improved mechanisms of community engagement with views of preventing further occurrences of ethnic conflicts in the country.

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