Honiara, Solomon Islands - With the Solomon Islands General Election to take place on 17 April, the electoral engine has already kicked into gear. This week, civil society representatives from all nine provinces of Solomon Islands and Honiara City Council have convened at a workshop in the capital to identify key topics for a voter awareness manual that their organizations will soon use to conduct face-to-face consultations with communities across all corners of the country. 

Participant civil society organizations (CSOs) have been selected to conduct awareness awareness raising campaigns throughout the country with the goal of effectively communicating and promoting the democratic process throughout Solomon Islands. These CSOs are collaborating on the manual that they will use to educate voters on the new, joint election process and how to be a good citizen by wisely exercising their right to vote.

The manual will be structured in three critical parts: Pre-Election, Election and Post-Election. It plans to encompass key topics around democracy (highlighting the rights and responsibilities within a democratic system), citizenship (defining the attributes of a good citizen), the governmental system, the essence of good leadership, the electoral process, voting procedures, election offenses and anti-corruption measures, correcting misconceptions, and post-election responsibilities. It will also address the role of citizens and leaders after elections and the importance of inclusive democracy.

As Rebecca Awa from Malaita Provincial Council of Women manifests: “This is an extraordinary opportunity to gather information on challenges experienced during former elections as well as best practices and put that together to eventually covey the message to the community”.

Ruth Maetala from the Dignity Pasifik organization said, “this workshop is very important to cater the right of information of every Solomon Islander that will practice their right to vote in this year´s elections.”