Solomon Islands is a diverse country with strong communities and vibrant cultures, but young people in rural areas of Solomon Islands suffer too frequently from poverty and a lack of opportunity.

To help address this issue, the Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) and Save the Children Australia have joined in an exciting new five-year partnership to provide opportunities for young people in Solomon Islands to get involved in organised sport and physical activity.

A key aim of ASOP, managed by the Australian Sports Commission in partnership with AusAID, is to help Pacific communities such as Solomon Islands to deliver their own quality sports participation programs. AusAID has committed $2.2 million over five years to support the delivery of broad and inclusive sports-based programs for community development through ASOP.

Save the Children Australia’s Youth Outreach Partnerships Program (YOPP), in partnership with ASOP, is using sport in Solomon Islands communities as a vehicle to promote social benefits in the areas of health, cohesion and leadership, with a primary focus on young people, but also targeting women in the community.

This program will build on the capacity of Solomon Islands communities to deliver their own existing sporting activities, such as football, netball and volleyball, starting in Western Province.

The Australian Sports Commission’s Solomon Islands activity coordinator, Amy Berson, said that the YOPP program will benefit the whole community.

‘This partnership will create opportunities for people in Solomon Islands to gain new skills; become more self-reliant and responsible; build self-esteem, confidence and competence; and play a greater role in their community.’

The YOPP program will help support the training and development of unemployed youth, such as Freddie from Western Province.

‘The program will help me develop new skills like how to run sports activities and manage projects in the community,’ Freddie said.

As with young people, there are limited opportunities for women to participate in sport, physical activity and decision-making in the wider community, and Berson said that the program will work to provide these opportunities.

‘We aim to build on the power and energy that can be created when a group of women come together, and provide further opportunities for them to contribute to their communities,’ Berson said.

The hope is that, when partnership activities are fully implemented, the ASOP/YOPP partnership can transform attitudes and behaviours, make positive change in people’s lives, and set the foundation for positive health and social.