Induction Workshop for Guadalcanal WSOs successfully concluded in Honiara

Induction Workshop for Guadalcanal WSOs successfully concluded in Honiara

 

A five-day induction training for the 16 Ward Support Officers (WSO) of Guadalcanal Province was successfully concluded on Friday, 5th of July, since its commencement on Monday, 1st July 2024, to induct them to be ready to carry out their roles effectively in supporting the Ward Development Committees (WDCs) in their respective wards.

The Provincial Secretary, Mr. Maesac Suia, presided over a brief closing ceremony at the Guadalcanal Provincial Chamber in Honiara. Mr. Josef Sua, the Deputy Provincial Secretary, chaired the ceremony. PS Suia stated that the induction programme for the WSOs of GPG was a clear example of the progress made so far in assisting the provincial government of Guadalcanal in putting the policy blueprint on participatory planning and social accountability into practice.

Acknowledging the World Bank’s support for the Integrated Economic and Community Resilience (IEDCR) Project housed by the MPGIS, which employs the WSOs and enables the implementation of the policy blueprint, PS Suia reminded the WSOs about their roles as being important, particularly as representatives of the government in the communities.

“During the induction, the officers oriented you about your roles in supporting the communities and the WDCs and how you will link the communities, WDCs, and the provincial government to the ministry; thus, you will play an important role in your work,” PS Suia told the WSOs. He then firmly urged the WSOs to do their work responsibly and with integrity, considering they represent the government in their wards when implementing the participatory planning framework of the policy blueprint.

In his closing remarks, Momodou Lamin Sawaneh, the IEDCR Programme Manager, and Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) of PGSP, reflected that the training covered a number of areas and emphasised compliance with environmental safeguards as key to the IEDCR Project.

“We also went through the WDC planning process, and your officers, Marx, Don, PCDA, PPC and the CCARO based here also did well on their presentations. The National Engineer, Monitoring and Environment Specialist, and our ESS Specialists, Edward, also did a presentation on risk screening, which is a new thing for this particular project. Since we started PCDF in 2008, we never used some of these tools, so this is the first time we are applying them, and that is as a direct result of the World Bank agreement with the SIG. The World Bank together with SIG is committed to PCDF and provides at least 85 million (SBD) into the project for resilient economic and social infrastructure,” he emphasised.

Mr. Sawaneh informed the participants that complying with the World Bank’s procedures is key to utilising the fund. “So to utilise those funds, the bank has its own procedures within the Ministry of finance that we have to comply with such as environmental safeguards, which are very new to us and to you as well,’ Mr.

Sawaneh told the participants . He added that the IEDCR Project is a very complex one to understand, highlighting that more training will enable better understanding of the project.

Speaking on behalf of the WSOs, Tangarare WSO, Mr. Doni Sioano, confidently stated that the training helped them better understand their roles, and about the IEDCR Project.

“I, on behalf of the WSOs of Guadalcanal, would like to say that from Monday till today, we have learned a lot about the IEDCR Project, which is just the tip of the iceberg of the many information that we will continue to learn and share with the communities, let alone the presentations that were lively and well-integrated,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary, Governance, of the MPGIS, Robert Kaua, congratulated the WSOs for accepting their appointments and urged them to perform their duties to the best of their abilities in their wards.

“You are going to work with the community leaders as an agent of peace within the communities, so don’t think you will only work as WSOs in supporting the WDCs; thus, your integrity is very important as you will also play a very important role in facilitating processes that may help address issues in the communities. Also, note that apart from the IEDCR, there is the community governance program, which is a very complicated program. But this is our work, to ensure we restore back the happy isles,” DS Kaua told the WSOs. Mr Kaua made the brief remarks during the official opening of the workshop on July 1st 2024.

In brief, the policy blueprint of the PGSP details the Ministry policy on participatory planning and community engagement in promoting service delivery at the community level. The policy outlines the responsibilities and roles of the WDCs as well as the means by which the provincial governments may finance micro projects within their own wards. It also contains the constitution that the respective wards may contextualize to help them govern the administration of their committees.

The IEDCR project, which commenced in 2022, enabled the appointment of the WSOs to support the WDCs.

The induction for Guadalcanal WSOs is the second in the country after the IEDCR project conducted a similar training in Malaita Province on the 24th – 26th of June 2024. IEDCR will also conduct training in the remaining provinces to ensure the 173 WSOs in the country are better equipped with the knowledge, gain confidence, and be empowered to do their work in their respective wards to support their WDCs in various development initiatives.

The IEDCR project acknowledges the support of SIG and the World Bank that enables it to roll out the government’s policies. With the World Bank funding, the IEDCR recruited 173 WSOs and allocated funds for the training of the WDCs and kick-starting social accountability.
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