Australia Supports Women in Leadership in Business

Australia is proud to be Solomon Islands nambawan development partner.

It’s why Australia was excited to join friends from New Zealand for the launch of the Asian Development Bank’s Private Sector Development Initiative’s (PSDI) new 2024 Leadership Matters report.

The report collects and analyses data on women’s representation on boards and in senior management in the 14 Pacific developing member countries, including the Solomon Islands. This year’s report builds on the first completed in 2021, offering fresh insights from an expanded dataset and new surveys and interviews with women and men business leaders across the Pacific, including the Solomon Islands.

This year’s report has found women’s representation in business leadership across the Pacific has grown and performs better than the global average for women’s representation on boards and in senior executive leadership.

This year’s report also shows encouraging results for the Solomon Islands. There is a strong pipeline of women ready for board chair roles, with 38 percent of deputy chairs held by women, compared to the regional average of 18 percent. Women’s representation as CEOs in the Solomon Islands has grown substantially since 2021, from only 7 percent of CEOs in 2021 to 24 percent this year.

Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Andrew Schloeffel, said Australia was pleased to support the new Leadership Matters report, which provides further evidence and analysis on the Solomon Islands’ increasing role of women in leadership positions across the private sector.

Mr. Schloeffel said all countries, including Australia, need to do more to ensure better representation and support for women in senior roles across business. The new Leadership Matters report is one way of showing what’s worked and where we can do more in the future with the support of our development programs.

“Australia’s ongoing support through the Australia Awards short courses support to upgrade skills and our on-the-job training through the recent Pasifiki HR initiative is targeted investments in enhancing the skills of women to achieve future leadership roles,” said Mr. Schloeffel.

Group Photo of speakers, panellists, and representatives of Women in Executive Leadership in Solomon Islands (WELSI) at the recent Private Sectors

Australia also congratulates the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce (SICCI), the Institute of Solomon Islands Accountants (ISIA), and the Solomon Islands Women in Business Association (SIWIBA) with the launch of the new Women in Executive Leadership Solomon Islands (WELSI).

This is another example of the private sector assisting women with training and support to increase women's representation in business leadership roles across the Solomon Islands, reinforcing the positive results of this year’s report. 

Media Release | AHC