Press release
Solomon Islands statistical services revitalised – a joint SPC/Solomon Islands success story
Thursday 16 November 2006, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), 36th Committee of Representatives of the
Governments and Administrations (CRGA) – “It is my pleasure to inform the Committee of the success story of the 18-month
statistics capacity building project implemented by SPC that has allowed the Solomon Islands National Statistical
Services to be revitalised. Major economic and social indicators that were not reliable in recent years are now
legitimate and timely,” announced Mr Luma Darcy, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of
Solomon Islands.
“Solomon Islands now has a new opportunity to undertake evidenced-based policy formulation, planning and
decision-making. A number of core statistical outputs – many of which are for the last decade or so – have now been
produced, disseminated and integrated,” said Mr Willie Lahari, SPC in-country technical adviser, in his presentation.
Mr Darcy added, “I commend SPC for the emphasis it places on capacity building. As Mr Lahari was previously a senior
statistician in Papua New Guinea, he understood the Solomon Islands context, and this contributed to the success of the
project.”
Mr Graeme Brown, SPC’s Statistics and Demography Programme Manager, stressed that “the Solomon Islands Statistical
Development Project is an excellent example of a regionally coordinated intervention, implemented at the national level
in partnership with the national government, that achieves an outcome of far greater value than the financial investment
made in the project, in this case by Australia and New Zealand. Although this was a large project for one country in SPC
terms, the real value is that the country’s statistical services – its engine room – have regained their strength.”
Mr John Oliver Gonzales from Northern Mariana Islands, impressed by the successful outcome of the project, suggested
integrating best-practice models like that of Solomon Islands into SPC’s website, adding that “this will provide member
countries and territories with successful examples to adapt and adopt for the benefit of our people, down to the ‘taro
roots’ level.”
“The benefits to Solomon Islands from this joint initiative are huge. Reviving the engine room for enhanced analysis and
monitoring of economic development indicators is a goal many countries aspire to,” concluded SPC Director-General Dr
Jimmie Rodgers.
Papers of the meeting are available on SPC’s website: www.spc.int.
ENDS