As New Zealand marks Waitangi Day (Monday 6 February), RAMSI Special Coordinator, James Batley, thanked the country’s government and people for the generosity and strength of their commitment to the regional assistance mission, both in terms of personnel and funding.

Mr Batley said New Zealand continued – as it had since the start of RAMSI in July 2003 – to contribute creative and professional people to all three parts of RAMSI – civilian, policing and military. Last week, a platoon of 46 soldiers arrived in country for a three month tour of duty.

“New Zealand continues to commit some its finest and most experienced public servants, police and military to this important partnership with Solomon Islands,” Mr Batley said.

In addition, through its development cooperation program, New Zealand is making a vital contribution to RAMSI by funding activities in a number of key sectors including law and justice and economic governance.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark visited Honiara last October to observe the work of RAMSI at first hand and to meet New Zealanders involved in the mission. At the conclusion of her visit, she said:

"The mission to stabilise law and order has been extremely successful and we see now a lot of momentum on developing a path forward for the economy, sorting out government finances and getting the school system up and running again. We congratulate SIG for the support they've given to the reform process."

Eleven countries contribute to RAMSI: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.