Country Profile:
Solomon Islands
Summary
The Solomon Islands has a population of approximately 530,000 and is made up for 992 small islands spread across 28,500 square kilometres. Since its independence in 1978, it has been a perpetually weak state. A low intensity conflict occurred between 1998 and 2003, with fewer than 200 fatalities.
In 2000, Australia and New Zealand brokered the Townsville Peace Agreement (TPA) that ended the violence and called for a general amnesty, demilitarization, and police force restructuring. The Solomon Islands National Parliament unanimously approved the mandate of the Australia-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which has acted as the main driver of an SSR process primarily focused on the development of a new Solomon Islands Police Force (SIPF) that is effective, representative and democratically-accountable. The SSR process has focused on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants, and addressing corruption and building capacity in the Solomon Islands Police Force.
