British High Commissioner Paul Turner was joined by Minister for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs, Hon. Kathy Nori MP, and Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Matthew Wale MP on a high-level panel to discuss the financial and cultural barriers to women’s participation in politics in the Solomon Islands.
The panel was part of a workshop organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). Also on the panel were Chief Electoral Officer Jasper Highwood Anisi and Dr Alice Pollard who gave a very personal account of her struggles standing as an electoral candidate and the disappointments that followed in losing elections.
The High Commissioner said that across the world, diverse voices strengthened democracies and in the case of Solomons this meant a far greater number of women needed to be elected in national and provincial assemblies. He said that since independence in 1978, only 8 women in total had ever been elected to the national parliament in Solomons, one of the lowest anywhere in the world.
The High Commissioner highlighted recent research by WFD which showed how financial constraints limit women candidates. Campaigning required significant resources and women were less likely to have access to personal income, land and financial assets. He said that more targeted financial support is needed to be provided to women candidates and called for greater transparency of campaign financing and more equitable allocation of resources to level the playing field.
Minister Nori outlined the challenges she had experienced in securing a Parliamentary seat. She said that women needed to overcome local expectation that they should be family based and focused on being the providers rather than the leaders of their communities. This shift in mindset had to happen across the Solomon Islands for women to have a chance of reaching their political aspirations but many were put off by the struggle.
Matthew Wale underlined the importance of women using their local Kastom and cultural networks to garner support and build up local recognition. He accepted this was more difficult for women and urged potential women candidates to join political parties so they could draw on the experience and resources that parties can offer. Wale said the problem with parties having reserved quotas for women candidates is that many women did not want to join political parties and opted instead to be independent candidates.
The panel agreed that a greater number of women in national and provincial assemblies would mean greater focus on important sectors such as health, education as well as community stability.
The High Commissioner underlined his personal experience from working in Northern Ireland and the Balkans in the 1990s and 2000s. He said it was the locally organised women’s groups that were instrumental in reaching out across divided communities in Sarajevo and Belfast, organising political groupings to work for long-term peace.