The United States is a Pacific nation—geographically, economically, historically, plus culturally—and remains invested in helping a prosperous Pacific. In Solomon Islands, the United States has provided more than . 8 mil since 2011 to establish the national capacity with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to spot and destroy explosive remains of war. This particular included training 13 technical engineers who have conducted more than 1, 200 explosive ordnance callouts and destroyed more than 29, 746 items of UXO. The United States’ work over the past decade to remediate explosive hazards is definitely foundational for a prosperous Solomon Islands and continues to advance humanitarian and development priorities on land free of UXO.
The United States, through its Conventional Weapons Devastation program, has funded work in the Pacific since 2009. Since 1993, the United States has invested over . 7 billion for the safe clearance of landmines and explosive weapons associated with war as well as the securing and safe disposal of excess small arms and light weaponry and munitions in more than 100 countries and areas. The United States will be the world’s single largest financial supporter of conventional weaponry destruction.
HALO will certainly advance shared United States-Solomon Islands priorities. Along with funding from the United States, HALO will locate and tag World War II legacy UXO whilst providing essential training and capacity building to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force EOD unit. This includes making use of existing data and traditional records as well as conducting search activities to update the particular national UXO database, which will inform future explosive ordnance risk education and forceful hazard responses to UXO contamination by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force EOD device. U. S. funding will also provide technical advice while assisting the Ministry of National Police to establish a UXO coordination office.
To learn more, please consult the PM website, the annual report To Walk the planet earth in Safety from PM’s Office of Weapons Elimination and Abatement , or contact the particular Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, at pm-cpa@state. gov . Stick to us on Twitter @StateDeptPM .
On December 21, 2022, the Department associated with State provided million to The HALO Trust (HALO) to launch a comprehensive unexploded ordnance (UXO) project in Solomon Islands beginning January 1, 2023. This task will address UXO priorities and enhance explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) capacity with all the Ministry of National Law enforcement and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. This task is part of President Biden’s statement at the United States-Pacific Island Nation Summit, where UXO priorities were one of nine U. S. commitments to implement the Declaration on U. Ersus. -Pacific Partnership
