ChildFund Brings Clean Water To Thousands In Remote Solomon Islands

ChildFund New Zealand CEO and team met with Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele of Solomon Islands, community leaders, and the Premier of the Provincial government of Temotu the Honourable Stanley Tehi, to design the next phase of clean water and nutrition projects funded by the New Zealander public and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"Aid budgets are being cut globally, and the impact of aid is being questioned. Organisations like ChildFund must demonstrate how we make a measurable difference with New Zealand’s aid," says Josie Pagani, CEO of ChildFund.

"Everything we do is led and owned by local leaders, nationally and at the community level, which gives our programmes the best chance of making a long-term difference. Locals know their communities best."

Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of child stunting in the world, with one-third of children under the age of five affected by stunting (impaired physical growth and brain development) due to lack of nutritious food during pregnancy and the first year.

Too many children get sick, or worse, die from diseases like dysentery from drinking unclean water. Infant mortality rates are high. Eighteen out of 1000 children die before the age of five, compared with about four in every 1000 in New Zealand.

"These statistics are entirely preventable. With better access to clean water and nutritious food, we can turn them around."

ChildFund is working with Greenergy Pacific, its local partner in Temotu, to deliver clean water to 18 villages that have no access to running water at the moment.

Prime Minister Hon. Jeremiah Manele expressed gratitude to ChildFund New Zealand for its continued support in addressing key development challenges that remain critical in rural Solomon Islands, including access to water, education, renewable energy, and skills training.

ChildFund CEO and Greenergy Pacific CEO, Sharon Inone, were also invited to attend the opening Assembly (parliament) of the Provincial Government. ChildFund is the first international NGO to be invited onto the floor of the Assembly to sit with ministers and MPs.

"This demonstrates the deep trust and commitment to partnership between ChildFund and the Provincial Government. We don’t arrive with a list of our own ideas. We get behind the plans of the national and local governments, and support local community organisations like Greenergy Pacific to implement these water and food projects."

ChildFund’s work in Solomon Islands includes the following:

• Rebuilding the Nembo water pipe network in Temotu and replacing the broken diesel generator with a solar-powered pump, to bring clean running water to 18 villages
• Working with local experts to improve soil quality and grow diverse food crops in schools and community gardens
• Training counsellors and youth workers to support mental health
• Supporting local groups in their campaign to make child marriage illegal
• Supporting a physical ‘women’s refuge’, and a hotline for help, for those escaping domestic violence

"This trip will help us to design the next few years of activities, and expand our clean water and nutrition projects to more villages, as well as do more to support young people to upskill and generate their own incomes. Knowing that we are aligned with the Solomon Islands’ plans for its own development is what will make these programmes successful."

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