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Addresses delivered in the general policy debate by the Head of Delegation at the General Conference

37 session of the General Conference

His Excellency, Mr Reuben Dick Ha’amori, Minister of Education and Human Resources of Solomon Islands

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 37th session of the General Conference - revised and corrected version of the verbatim records of plenary meetings

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Dick HA'AMORl, Minister of Education

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 36th session of the General Conference and posted as received

35 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Mattew Waletofea, Minister of Education

“In our small country about 80 languages are spoken, many of them by very few people. Too many of these languages are endangered. (…) We strongly count on UNESCO to provide support for the protection and promotion of languages as part of our intangible heritage.”
“Climate change and particularly natural catastrophes such as tsunamis are a life-threatening reality to our country and the neighbouring nations of the Pacific. (…) We ask UNESCO to step up its efforts especially through IOC to protect our islands. This requires additional funding for ocean research and policy-related action when it comes to climate change.”
“Our country has made significant progress in many areas of human development. Particularly in education we have managed to keep 180,000 children in our schools (…). Yet we struggle to train the additional teachers required. We are committed to implementing our national education policy that aims at reaching universal access. (…) I was very inspired in listening to the Indian Minister of Education yesterday. Their experience in legislating the right to education could be a model for all of us. We salute these efforts and would like to urge UNESCO to push such endeavours at the global level and we will look forward to learning more about it through UNESCO’s South-South Cooperation Scheme.”
“Right now education represents 40% of my government’s budget. (…) However, we still need UNESCO’s support to catch up on the goals towards universal education (…).”
“We now have some statistics to make the necessary plans. We have solid policies, but we still need international financial support in order to train the teachers required in order to improve the overall quality of our education.”
“A few years ago the Solomon Islands was a fragile State, but we have come back. A truth and reconciliation commission has been installed and it is modelled after the much inspiring South African experience.”
“(…) my country is a candidate for the UNESCO Executive Board; it is the first time since independence in 1978 that our country is a candidate for this important Board.”
“I believe there is an urgent need to significantly slim down the overhead costs of the Secretariat. (…) There is a need to shift more funds from administration and central services to UNESCO’s priority programmes. (…) We need further support to Small Island Developing States and especially in the Pacific.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. Hon. Dr Derek Sikua, Minister for Education and Human Resources Development

“On the 2nd April 2007, Solomon Islands experienced a major catastrophe. It was hit by a series of earthquakes and tsunamis […]. Allow me to acknowledge with thanks the assistance from UNESCO, particularly for the immediate response to the disaster in […] making available the provision of assistance under the emergency Participation Programme.”
Small Islands Developing States like Solomon Islands are particularly vulnerable and prone to natural disasters, and the effects of climate change. In view of this, UNESCO should give more attention to setting up early warning systems.
“Solomon Islands acknowledge and support the initiatives undertaken by the Director-General in the decentralization and rationalization of programmes. […] UNESCO must ensure that adequate resources are made available to the Pacific cluster office in Apia, Samoa.”
Solomon Islands are truly aware of the importance of the education field. The EFA goals have been written into the National Education Action Plan and into the Education Strategic Framework. Draft policies exist in the areas of early childhood care and education, universal basic education, teacher training and tertiary education. Furthermore, training and technical education programmes are about to be implemented in the country.
Solomon Islands are developing pioneering a distance and flexible learning initiative in the ICT sector and would like to draw UNESCO’s attention to the lack of human capacity and resources in this area. Solomon Islands are also committed to the principles of freedom of expression and speech. The Pacific Islands News Association Conference was hosted in Honiara with the help of a sub-regional participation programme.
“We still need the ongoing support from UNESCO, particularly in the fields of: teacher training; policy and capacity development; communication and transportation; legal review, and disaster preparedness.”