WWF-Pacific (Solomon Islands) is improving the sustainability of fisheries and the management of natural resources in the country's Western Province through an integrated Sustainable Coastal Communities Programme.

One component of this programme is the Sustainable Livelihoods and Women's Empowerment project. The project understands that long-term conservation is best achieved by enhancing sustainable and equitable livelihood opportunities for the people that depend most on the natural environment.

In Solomon Islands, where 80% of women live in rural areas and rely on informal fisheries and agriculture-based economies for their livelihoods, this requires a special focus on facilitating sustainable economic opportunities for women.

Through the financial inclusion component of the Programme, WWF help establish women's microfinance savings clubs, conduct training in financial literacy, business planning, governance and leadership and train savings club members as trainers to extend the financial inclusion work to neighbouring islands and communities. Working with more than 940 women across 33 communities, the financial inclusion component has seen more than 120 women-led business initiatives, all underpinned by strong business, social and environmental sustainability criteria, emerge in just over three years.

In addition to the direct economic benefits to these women, their families and communities, there are early indications that the income generated through these initiatives is reducing household dependency on overexploited coastal fisheries. Furthermore, in a country where women continue to face systematic discrimination and numerous structural obstacles to their participation, the financial inclusion component is an important stepping stone to encourage the involvement of women in community decision-making mechanisms that affect their lives.

This programme is led by WWF-Australia and is funded through Australian Aid from the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).It is also supported by John West Australia. The programme is being implemented by WWF-Pacific (Solomon Islands), with support from WWF-Australia.