THE Solomon Islands Country Gender Assessment (CGA) report launched during the Women’s International Day stated that gender equality is a stated priority of the government of Solomon Islands and all ministries and sectors share the responsibility for achieving gender equality.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA) Ethel Sigimanu stated this in the report Foreword.

In this regard according to PS Sigimanu, the CGA will support the country’s ongoing efforts in promoting equality between women and men, boys and girls.

“As Permanent Secretary for the MWYCFA, my goal is to ensure that our national and international commitments to gender equality are addressed and monitored over time.

“The compilation of data and analysis in the CGA highlights complexities of gender relations that need to be addressed, while presenting baselines for monitoring our progress toward gender equality,” said Mrs Sigimanu.

“The assessment illustrates where Solomon Islands has made progress so far, for example, in our framework for gender mainstreaming and in our research on ending violence against women.

“It also highlights areas where gender inequality is holding back development: rural women clearly have less opportunity to realise their rights to health, education and justice.

“Across the country, fewer girls than boys are enrolled in school and the numbers drop significantly in the higher grades.

“Women are therefore less prepared to engage in the cash economy and secure paid employment.

“Women’s health is a major concern as well: the total fertility rate is still high, use of contraception is low and access to quality services is inconsistent.

“To address these challenges, the CGA stresses that we must not only improve the gender responsiveness of legislation and policy, but also strengthen strategic analysis, data collection and technical capacity. Developing a consistent and comparable set of gender indicators is essential in tracking our progress,” she said.

“We are fortunate that the Public Service Commission has designated all permanent secretaries as leaders in gender mainstreaming across the government. The multi-sector nature of the CGA analysis will assist them in their efforts to rationalise the allocation of financial and staff resources. It will also assist the central government in preparing and planning national budgets to support more gender-inclusive development strategies and programs,” she added.

The CGA assessment could not have been completed without the assistance of PS Sigimanu’s colleagues across different ministries. They have supported the involvement of gender focal points from their ministries in the CGA reference group, which resulted in a richer analysis and a more universally relevant report.

“I would like to thank the many people who responded to our requests for information, who participated in interviews and consultations and who reviewed earlier drafts for the document.

“The production of this report has been a collaborative process and we can all be proud of the achievement,” she concluded.