COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS REVIEWS SITUATION IN SOLOMON ISLANDS

CESCR
29th session
18 November 2002
Morning



The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Right reviewed this morning the situation in the Solomon Islands in the absence of a Government delegation but with an initial report submitted by the country.
Committee members said they regretted no Government representatives were present to respond to questions or otherwise discuss the report. As one of the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Solomon Islands must submit periodic reports to the 18-member Committee. Generally Government officials appear to present the report and to talk about it with the panel.
The Solomon Islands did submit replies to written questions prepared by Committee Experts in advance.
Committee Chairperson Virginia Bonoan-Dandan said the Solomon Islands should continue to seek international assistance to fulfil its international human-rights obligations. In a situation like this, it was necessary that the Committee should make further recommendations to enable the State party to improve the economic, social and cultural rights of its citizens, she said.
Other Committee Experts said the country should seek international cooperation to improve its situation, noting that educational opportunities, formal-sector employment, and health services were lacking.
The Committee will issue formal, written conclusions and recommendations on the initial report of the Solomon Islands on 29 November, the last day of its autumn three-week session.
According to the report, the Solomon Islands is an archipelago scattered over 800,000 square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean, with a population of 409,042 living on 1,000 islands.
The Committee will continue its debate on the situation in the Solomon Islands in private when its reconvenes at 3 p.m. It scheduled to take up a initial report of Estonia in a public session at 3 p.m. Tuesday, 19 November.

Report of Solomon Islands
The initial report of the Solomon Islands (E/1990/5/Add.50) provides background information on how that country is attempting to implement the provisions of the International Covenant through various administrative, legislative and juridical measures. The report says the Solomon Islands is home to people of many races and cultures. The country is an archipelago scattered over 800,000 square kilometres in the Pacific Ocean, with a population of 409,042 inhabitants living on 1,000 islands. The fertility rate declined from 7.3 in 1970 to 6.1 in 1986. The infant mortality rate improved from 46 per thousand in 1976 to 38 per thousand in 1986.
The report notes that formal wage employment is not as yet absolutely necessary for survival in Solomon Islands. In 1986, it was found that around 71 per cent of the economically active population was engaged in "no-money-earning" activities. In 1999, 45 per cent of the population aged 14 years and over was involved in unpaid work. Only 23 per cent were engaged exclusively in formal, wage-paying employment. The number engaged in both wage-earning work and subsistence production is not known.
The economy of the Solomon Islands is largely subsistence, the report says. About 80 per cent of the rural population relies on subsistence production and supplementary activities to earn cash. There is no "poverty line" established in the Solomon Islands and no information is available on the per capita gross national product for the 40 per cent of the population considered to be the poorest.
Primary education is free to all but not compulsory, the report notes. The Government discharges its obligation to provide primary education by paying teachers' salaries and grants to schools as well as paying board and tuition for all trainee teachers. Secondary education is available but not accessible to all. Secondary schools charge fees but are heavily subsidized by the State. The non-availability and inaccessibility of secondary education reflect a lack of resources. Higher education is available but not accessible to all.
Everyone in the Solomon Islands has adequate access to shelter, the reports notes. The number of homeless individuals and families, if they exist, is not known. If an individual or family is homeless then that is by choice. Everyone in the country now has a home in his or her village of origin, the report contends; there is no social housing. The country has no legislation to protect tenants from eviction or to control rents and prices of houses.
In its conclusion, the report notes that the Solomon Islands is not party to all the human rights conventions and covenants but successive Governments had made laws and regulations to safeguard the economic, social and cultural rights of the nation. The Government wishes to see the obligations of the International Covenant fulfilled. It realizes, however, that the extent to which these obligations can be fulfilled is dependent on available resources.

Discussion
Chairperson VIRGINIA BONOAN-DANDAN said the Solomon Islands should continue to seek international assistance to fulfil its international obligations. In a situation like this, it was necessary that the Committee make further recommendations to enable the State party to improve the economic, social and cultural rights it provided its citizens.
An Expert said that in the past the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) had helped financially so that a delegation from the Solomon Islands could appear before the Committee on the Rights of the Child to present a periodic report. Similarly, the Committee should seek means to enable the Government to send a delegation to this Committee. He suggested that generous donor countries or international organizations could help the Solomon Islands in that regard.
Another Expert said the country's legislation on the employment of foreign nationals was discriminatory and should be rectified. The report indicated that registered trade unions were not permitted to merge without Government approval; public service workers were prohibited from joining private-sector unions. Such provisions could affect the right of employees to form or join trade unions of their choice. In addition, non-nationals were not allowed to be members of trade unions.
An Expert said the Solomon Islands had ratified only few international treaties and delegations had failed before to come before the Committees of human-rights treaty bodies. More than half the country's population was working in the informal sector, where there were no unemployment benefits or minimum wage scales. The situation of education was also of great concern. There was a need to help the country in all fields. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF should be more involved in that effort.
Women in the Solomon Islands were under-represented in all spheres of society, including public affairs, another speaker said. In households, women were considered the private properties of their husbands.
The Solomon Islands should continue to seek international cooperation to improve its situation, an Expert said. The attention of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) should be drawn to the Solomon Islands. The political situation should also be taken into consideration. Lack of resources was a serious problem in the country. At least 80 per cent of the population lived by subsistence.
An Expert said that the report did not mention any situation of famine in the country, contrary to other developing countries. The report said the majority of the population lived in rural areas and depended on the land and sea for their livelihood; there was no hunger in the country, but there were signs of malnutrition. An international assistance programme could alleviate some of the problems faced by the State party.
One-third of the population of the Solomon Islands was suffering from malaria, another Expert said. Even measures taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) had not changed the situation. In many cases, the population had no access to primary health care. The society of the Solomon Islands was also characterized by the occurrence of domestic violence which had been affecting the health of women.
An Expert pointed to an absence of involvement by international financial institutions in the Solomon Islands. The cooperation of such institutions was essential. However, some countries were providing substantial assistance through bilateral agreements.



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