The United States Peace Corps will re-establish operations in Solomon Islands after an absence of almost 20 years.
Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen and Harry Kuma, minister of Finance and Treasury of Solomon Islands. Photo: Facebook / Peace Corps
More than 700 Peace Corps volunteers served in Solomon Islands from 1971 to the year 2000, by which time the capital Honiara had descended into chaos brought on by a bloody ethnic conflict.
The corps' return to the country was announced last week by its director Jody Olsen and the Solomon Islands' minister of finance Harry Kuma at the Peace Corps' headquarters in Washington DC.
"Based on the results of a thorough assessment earlier this year, we are pleased to support the return of Peace Corps volunteers," said Ms Olsen.
"We are grateful to the Government and people of Solomon Islands for their invitation to have Peace Corps volunteers serve side-by-side with Solomon Islanders in their beautiful country."
Initially, the Peace Corps will recruit short-term volunteers to focus on education in Solomon Islands.
This first group of volunteers is scheduled to arrive in mid-2021.
Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 235,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide.