Report Card and Millenium Development Goals!

J. Roughan

6 August 2009

Honiara

 

Last week's Report Card results say much about Solomon Islands chances of getting close to hitting its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target. Nations across the world, the Solomons included, publicly promised nine years ago to pull out all stops to have its poorest people achieve, by year 2015, the majority of the millennium development goals.

 

Our political masters committed the country to getting rid of extreme poverty, having universal primary education, reducing child mortality, improve maternal health, ensure the integrity of our environment, etc. The latest Report Card survey results were, among other things, measured how far along this road we had traveled as a nation. Unfortunately, this recent Report Card's failing grades say we are not even traveling in the right direction.

 

If each section of SIDT's Report Card is closely studied, it becomes clear that government is falling farther and farther behind on its promise to its own people. This promise committed government to raise the quality of life of our poorest and the nation's least powerful.

 

Health Services  56/100

 

Urban, rural and those living just outside of towns and cities were asked to rate government's efforts in health matters. Before marking  government on how well or poorly it has been working on teh nation's health--work of hospitals, clinics and aid posts as well as the doctors, nurses and other staff--the person was asked to weigh up their experiences over an eighteen month period.

 

Too often our survey takers heard complaints that the needed medicines were absent or out of date or that the health worker was less than enthusiastic in trying to aid the sick person. Many low marks in this area are traced back to personal experience of people when interacting with the government's medical establishment.

 

Quality Education 65/100

 

The Sikua Government's best score comes in the education sector. People do recognize when government is trying hard and reaching out to its people. But they are not blind to an overall view of education. They are not slow to critique local teachers when they fail to attend class, continue to demand school fees in the face of government's efforts to strike them out and are saddened by poor school buildings and such. 

 

Resource Assistance 55/100

 

Citizens know well that their gardens, forests, reef and sea are their life blood. Once one or two of these resources go into decline or worse still, in danger of disappearing, then life becomes most difficult. That is why those surveyed gave government a low mark. Its field officers weren't working out among people, weren't teaching villagers how to get the best out of land and failed to establish markets for people's products.

 

$$$ Availability 45/100

 

The global financial tsunami is hitting the nation's small people hard these days. Of course many are lucky who can call upon garden, forest and sea for food and sustenance. But more and more small amounts of money are needed to buy 'luxuries' like soap, taiyo, matches, cooking oil, etc. But store prices scare them. Their prices go in only one direction . . . up, up and up!  That is why the typical Solomon Islander needs small amounts of money to begin to taste The Good Life. Yet, this is the very area where less and less is the order of the day.

 

Average  55/100

 

The MDG is a useful yardstick measuring government's track record.  How well or how poorly is the political establishment treating its people. Today's Report Card is another way of measuring how the government of the day performs its primary duty. After 20 years of measuring the results, it's sad to say that rather than our poor growing out of their poverty, they are falling lower and lower. When will things change?