BY INDY MAEALASIA

THE Minister of Women, Youth, Children, and Families Affairs (MWYCFA), Freda Rangirei, has informed Parliament last week during a sine die motion that the SAFENET program will be expanded to Rennell and Bellona Province in 2025.

 “..we began the process of establishing nine provinces SAFENET, including Honiara City and we have one more to go which is Renbel province. We will establish it next year, 2025,” the minister announced.

SAFENET is a network of service providers working to combat sexual and gender-based violence (GBV). It includes both government and non-government organizations (NGOs) offering vital support and referrals to survivors of violence.

In her address, Minister Rangirei also expressed gratitude to the Australian Government for its ongoing support to the SAFENET program. “I would like to sincerely thank the Australian Government for its generous funding, provision of vehicles, and overall support to all SAFENET members,” she said.

In efforts to combat violence nationwide, Rangirei also highlighted the country’s progress in tackling domestic violence, noting that Solomon Islands is the first in the Pacific region to implement a Domestic Violence Counselling Guidelines policy

 “…this year we have started implementing of counselling guidelines and we have created a registry to assist the qualified counsellors,” she shared

She emphasized that significant efforts are being directed towards preventing violence, especially against women and girls.

“…..next year, we will put even more emphasis on prevention campaign,” Rangirei noted.

The Minister emphasized that the successful rollout of these planned initiatives in 2025 is made possible by the increased budget allocation for the Women’s Development Division