THE Government of Japan will provide SBD 14,540,000 through the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) to support the fight against corruption in Solomon Islands.
The Agreement was signed between the Japanese Ambassador to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Morimoto Yasuhiro, and UNDP Solomon Islands Officer in Charge Ms. Olga Rabade at the UNDP Office conference room yesterday.
The signing of the cooperation will help strengthen national capacities to combat corruption in Solomon Islands.
Japan is a global leader and is ranked among the 20th least corrupt in the world as elaborated by Deputy Secretary to Prime Minister Dr. Derek Mane when he delivered his remarks on behalf of the government at the signing ceremony.
H.E Yasuhiro when delivering his official remarks said that this project has come about after discussions with UNDP on the possibility of any funding assistance to support the fight against corruption in the Solomon Islands.
“Through successful exchanges, I am very pleased to sign this agreement to extend through UNDP, Japan’s support to the government and people of Solomon Islands.” He added.
H.E also said that he is very pleased to note the great effort that the government of Solomon Islands made in the last few years since the passing of the Anti-Corruption Bill in 2018 which paves the way for the establishment of the Solomon Islands Independent Commission Against Corruption (SIICAC).
“This shows that the government of Solomon Islands is proactively pursuing the fight to ensure that corruption does not thrive and the government of Japan through UNDP is assisting by extending a helping hand through this project to help Solomon Islands in this fight,”
Meanwhile, the aims of this project are to strengthen the institutional framework governing transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption in Solomon Islands.
To Strengthen Corruption Prevention Mechanisms consistent with National Anti-Corruption Strategy to limit leakages, maximise resource effectiveness and improve service delivery.
And also to build civil society, the private sector, and citizens of Solomon Islands to build a coalition and conduct accountability activities and integrity advocacy work in line with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
H.E urged all stakeholders who will be part of this project to utilise this assistance to successfully complete and achieve the intended aims for a better Solomon Islands.
The project will run for a period of three years.
By ANDREW FANASIA
Newsroom, Honiara.
