25 Oct 2016

Youth bulge threatens Solomons stability

From , 4:03 pm on 25 October 2016

An academic says Solomon Islands risks social instability unless more is done to occupy the country's growing youth population.

The Australian PhD candidate, Daniel Evans, says 60 percent of people in the Solomons are under the age of 24, which is a common phenomenon in Pacific nations called the "youth bulge."

Mr Evans told Ben Robinson Drawbridge the youth unemployment rate in Honiara could be as high as 75 percent, despite two programmes to get young people into work.

Honiara port

Honiara port Photo: RNZ Koroi Hawkins