Asia and Oceania

Solomon Islands
Last reviewed: 09 October 2009

Country information

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International relations

Solomon Islands' relations with its neighbours

The Solomon Islands is a member of many regional and international bodies, including the Pacific Islands Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Solomon Islands hosts the Forum Fisheries Agency, which is based in Honiara. Australia and New Zealand play a major role in the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which is also actively supported by Papua New Guinea and other Pacific partners. The Solomon Islands hosted the Pacific Islands News Association Convention in May 2007.

Solomon Islands' relations with the international community

The Solomon Islands is a member of the UN and the Commonwealth. There is a Commonwealth Youth Programme Office in Honiara. The Solomon Islands has followed a policy of non-alignment since independence. It is an active supporter of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (which it ratified in January 1989) and has completed a Nuclear Proliferation Treaty safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

The UK, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Taiwan all have Diplomatic Missions in the Solomon Islands. The US has a Consular Agent in Honiara. France, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, South Korea ,Malaysia, The Philippines and Israel have Honorary Consuls. The Solomon Islands has diplomatic missions in Canberra, Taipei, Suva, Port Moresby, at the UN in New York and the European Commission in Brussels (the High Commissioner there is accredited to the UK).

Solomon Islands relations with the UK

Bilateral relations with the UK remain strong. The UK’s bilateral aid programme in the Solomon Islands ended in early 2004 when the UK’s regional aid programme came to a close. However UK funding through the EU, the largest multilateral donor to the Solomon Islands, will continue. The UK contributes almost 15% of the EU development budget in the Solomon Islands. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office assistance to the Solomon Islands is focussed on security sector reform, good governance, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Among the activities supported in the last two years are: education on HIV/AIDS, rural clinics, collective farming, flood relief (through the Solomon Island Red Cross), and the protection and empowerment of women.

The Previous Governor General, Sir Nathaniel Waena, visited the UK in 2008 and had an audience with HM The Queen.

TRH Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited Solomon Islands in August 2008 to mark the 30th anniversary of Solomon Islands independence. In August 2007 Michael Howard MP and Baroness Golding from the UK Parliamentary Association (CPA) visited the Solomon Islands.