Renee Yap (past volunteer) – Legal Adviser in Solomon Islands
“One of my favourite moments was during the Premiers’ Conference where one evening I found myself sitting under a house on a couple of logs in the dead of night, sharing jokes with my Ministry friends − from the office cleaner to the Minister.”
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Before coming on VSA assignment, Renee was working as a lawyer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Zealand Aid Programme in Wellington.
What Renee did in the Solomon Islands
Renee worked for the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) whose role is to support the nine Provincial Governments where 85 per cent of the population lives. (Capital Honiara, where the rest of the population lives is run separately.)
Renee worked with around 15 MPGIS colleagues, providing legal advice and input to strengthen policies and procedures to help improve the delivery of services to the population. This role included developing and delivering training.
As well as working with her MPGIS colleagues, Renee also linked up with UNDP who works towards similar objectives in the Solomon Islands.
Making a positive impact
While on assignment Renee realised how hard it was for employees to find provincial legislation. Often vital information needed to understand the legal system would be hidden in files in dusty rooms, almost impossible to locate. Renee spent a lot of her assignment pulling together provincial legislation and created, for the first time, an online database that listed all this information in one place, accessible to anyone.
Now anyone working out of the nine provinces of the Solomon Islands will be able to access the database and get the information they need about existing legislation to help seal good governance in the Solomon Islands. As Renee says “Information and knowledge sharing is a big issue in the Solomon Islands. To find a way to publish the information and so share it was something I really wanted to do while I was there.”
The information will now be updated by one of the clerical officers who is taking the work forward.
Renee was also part of a team from the ministry that went around the provinces to deliver training to newly elected members of the provincial assembly. The groups were between 10-35 in size and her legal training was always the most wanted part of the training. People were desperate for legal advice” says Renee. “It’s a very under-resourced area.”
Renee’s highlights
“I really valued the opportunity to make an impact in such a small amount of time. In three months I facilitated two workshops consisting of 30 people each on Provincial Ordinances and had amendments to legislation endorsed by Cabinet. I was also able to resolve issues that had been waiting for an answer for four years and contributed to the Premiers’ Conference.
“My colleagues had been desperate for a legal adviser, so it was warming to see their almost overly grateful responses to every small thing I did, whether it be me writing a legal opinion on the same day it was requested or finding a piece of legislation they’ve been looking for.”
What the Solomon Islands has taught Renee
“Be patient and persevere because you will get there in the end; even if you end up somewhere completely unexpected.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem so learn to look through things with different lenses. A country such as Solomon Islands can be very complex and multi-faceted so be careful not to judge too quickly.”
“I realise that I’m much more resilient than I thought. I can handle frustrating situations, bad toilets and many other things with a good dose of humour!”
“It’s true! Skills transfer is a two way street: you give and you take, and you could very well take a lot more than you give!”
See Renee's published article in New Zealand Lawyer
Renee is now back working at MFAT in Wellington as a Development Officer on the Afghanistan Desk.
Stories
Introducing the life of a volunteer in Solomon Islands
Published on 7th December 2010
I’ve been meaning to start this blog for some time now – well, four months actually, which is how long I’ve been in my assignment as Legal Adviser for the Ministry of Provincial Government & Institutional Strengthening. I feel like I’ve been in Honiara for at least a year, but... Read More
Central Province: a little bit of info
Published on 16th March 2011
The day after returning from RenBel, the rest of the induction training team and I traded in our wee pencil plane for the trusty 360 Discovery and headed towards Central Province – the second Province on our list to receive the induction training. Read More
It’s off to Choiseul I go!
Published on 27th April 2011
The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary decided I needed to take a break from the Induction Training to work on some land negotiations (more on this later). What can I tell you about Choiseul? I managed to scrape together some information from Malcolm and Scott, both VSA volunteers situated in Choiseul Province. Read More
When in Choiseul...bake bread!
Published on 21st June 2011
During my time in Choiseul I was fortunate enough to sample Malcolm’s famous bread. Malcolm is a VSA Legal Adviser working for the Choiseul Provincial Government and he is famous in Taro and among Ministry and VSA staff members for his bread. Read More
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