Thursday 14 December 2006

1085 Solomon Islanders across four provinces have been given a strong voice today with the launch of the first People’s Survey Pilot 2006.

The People’s Survey Pilot involved 58 trained Solomon Islanders conducting questionnaires and focus group discussions with local Solomon Islanders on ten key areas.

The People’s Survey Pilot shows that 59 per cent of people interviewed think that law and order have improved in the last year. However, mixed responses were given in other areas fundamental to people feeling safe, confident and secure within their community, and about their future.

RAMSI commissioned an independent agency ANU Enterprise to conduct the pilot survey.

Acting RAMSI Development Coordinator, Stuart Schaefer, thanked all those involved, noting in particular those who were interviewed.

“People have responded to this survey with insight, intelligence and honesty on issues that affect their daily life,” he said.

“The strongest message from the survey is - yes, progress has been made; and yes, there is still a lot of work to be done”, he said.

An important finding was the high value men and woman of all ages placed on the opportunity to freely discuss and answer questions on issues of central importance to their lives.
 
“People in the Solomon Islands get asked a lot of questions about development. It is important that we get the results of this survey back to the community and also adapt our programs to meet their needs”, he said.

 “The results in areas such as basic security, health and education are encouraging and show the partnership between the Solomon Islands Government and RAMSI is making real progress. However, poorer results in other areas emphasise the challenges ahead for everyone working towards the development of the Solomon Islands. This means the government, RAMSI, donors, non-government organisations, civil society and the community”, he said. 

The People’s Survey Pilot showed that many problems are making life hard for people; problems such as abuse of kwaso, the price of goods, logging, corruption and violent crime. In focus group discussions, people said they felt pessimistic about future prospects.

Michael Fueimua, an interviewer from the Honiara team, said that with a week’s training in interview techniques, they had the right skills to make people feel comfortable answering the questionnaires and participating in focus group discussions.
 
“People were looking for the opportunity to voice their concerns and identify problems that the government and non-government organisations can work on”, he said.

Mr Schaefer said RAMSI was working hard to support the Solomon Islands Government develop the systems, the people and the laws to respond better to these problems.

“The road to a peaceful, well-governed and prosperous nation is a long and difficult one. But it is worth it. The Solomon Islands Government, working with the 15 countries of RAMSI and the community, needs to ensure that the gains in basic security develop into a stronger government and a stronger economy to serve people’s needs.”

Key findings from people interviewed in the People’s Survey Pilot include:

On general economic growth and services across the Solomon Islands

• 87% of people said prices were too expensive.
• 92% of people perceived youth employment as a problem. Focus group participants perceived unemployed youth as a threat to security.
• 64% thought that schools had improved, but 28% thought they were worse.

On community confidence
• 36% rated their village as safe and peaceful
• 48% perceived a decrease in the level of violent crime
• 59% said the law and order situation had improved
• There was a large variation by age and gender suggesting that women and young men may feel more vulnerable to crime.

On police and RAMSI
• 92% of people had seen a RAMSI officer in the past three months
• 48% reported a robbery or theft from their garden in the past year
• 28% of these minor crimes were reported to the Solomon Islands Police Force
• 65% thought violent conflict would return to Solomon Islands if RAMSI left in the near future.

On access to justice
• 41% would prefer to use custom law rather than modern law, while 47% said it would depend on the particular circumstances
• 57% of those people who went to court thought the trial was fair.

On parliamentary representation
• 77% had voted in the recent election

Mr Schaefer said the People’s Survey Pilot 2006 provided valuable experience in how to conduct a large survey in the Solomon Islands about community perceptions. The results will be used to inform activities in 2007.

“The People’s Survey, together with the RAMSI Annual Performance Report, are key tools for measuring the performance of RAMSI against its objectives and outcomes.”

“We are in new territory, RAMSI is a large program and we are looking at better ways to monitor how well it is working towards its aims. We are planning to conduct the People’s Survey 2007, a larger and more representative survey, early next year in collaboration with the Solomon Islands Statistics Office. RAMSI funds an adviser through SPC from Papua New Guinea in the Office who has been working hard to train staff and develop their ability to work on major projects like the People’s Survey.”

The People’s Survey Pilot took place in selected areas of Guadalcanal, Honiara, Malaita, Western and Choisel from 1-8 May 2006. 1085 people completed questionnaires and 31 focus group discussions were held.

Complete copies of the People’s Survey Pilot 2006 are available on the RAMSI website: www.ramsi.org. Go to Useful information.