Solomon Islands: Community Resilience to Climate and Disaster Risk Project

Context and Objectives 
The objective of the project was to increase the resilient capacity of selected communities to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. The project aimed to strengthen government capacity in disaster and climate risk management by implementing disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) investments in selected high-risk communities in Guadalcanal, Temotu, Malaita, Central Islands and Bellona provinces.

Main Activities and results

Reform of institutional arrangements:

• A review and update of the National Disaster Management Plan of 2010 has been completed, which was endorsed by the National Disaster Council in April 2018, and is now in use to provide guidance on the provincial set-up for DRM activities

Seismic Monitoring

• Seismic monitoring equipment was procured for five monitoring stations
• A national risk information system was developed and is in operation
• An emergency radio communication system is now in operation.
• The database for risk information was strengthened, and the National Disaster Management Office is now connected to the database 
• Volcanic and seismic monitoring equipment has been installed in seven stations and is transmitting real time data to the central base station.

Community and provincial sub-projects investments:

• Community-DRM planning were completed for all 55 targeted communities.
• 6 community-led water supply investments have been completed.
• 28 community-led sub-projects (on water supply, evacuation shelters, all-season access to foot bridges, and shoreline protection) are completed and 28 are well under way.

Partnerships and Coordination
The project entailed coordination and liaison with partners and other stakeholders including government agencies, donor agencies and other project teams (i.e., the Rural Development Program).

• Liaising with Ministry of Health: The project engaged with the Ministry of Health to mainstream resilience in their planning processes. Discussion on the creation of a new Risk Reduction Officer position at the ministry 
• Coordination with other Programs: The Project team met regularly with the Rural Development Program project team, to ensure resources were efficiently shared between the teams in order to maximize efficiency (i.e., fiduciary and technical resources). 

Useful Links

A Results in Resilience Story is accessible here.