MORE than 50 constituents from the three constituencies of Honiara are taking part in a two-day Constituency Development Funds (CDF) assessment workshop starting on Thursday.
The workshop is facilitated by the Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI) with financial assistance by the United Nations Democratic Fund (UNDF) and is held at the SIDT conference room, new Chinatown.
Speaking to this paper in an interview, the workshop coordinator Oscar Watesao said that the project which the training comes under is something new from TSI.
“The CDF consultation assessment project is a new project that was facilitated by TSI.
“It was funded by UNDC on a two years basis starting on February 2015 and will end at the beginning of January 2017.
“We are targeting 32 constituencies in Solomon Islands through the goal of the project which is to empower citizens of this country so that they can be able to have access to CDF information and participate in community development,” Mr Watesao said.
He added that they have just completed their visit to all the constituencies of Guadalcanal doing the same workshop for the constituents of Guadalcanal.
Philip Manakako Junior, the Research and Advocacy officer of TSI told the Solomon Star that from his observation, the participants’ have learnt a lot on the first day of the program.
“Women groups, youths, church leaders and elders and few Non-Government Organization workers are taking part in this training.
“The first day of training was very good because the participants are really able to get the messages that we are trying to put across.
“They also participated well in the discussion sessions of this workshop, actually we teach them and they too do educate us more, in exchange,” he said.
Manakako added that such workshop is very nice because it’s good to get the views of the people in Honiara who are victims of the CDFs’.
Meanwhile, he said that there are lots of issues being raised and there were many of them that TSI need to take up to the responsible or relevant ministries for deliberation.
By RONALD FLIER TOITO’ONA
