A/HRC/48/13 focusing on three key areas: keeping the economy afloat; boosting the productive sector; and keeping COVID-19 out of the country. Notwithstanding, without sustained efforts by development partners on a path of economic recovery, the pandemic could result in the country’s economy potentially coming to a standstill in the not too distant future. 92. As a “large ocean, small island State” facing geographically related constraints, Solomon Islands was subjected to social and economic vulnerabilities. It continued to call for a halt to practices that encouraged overfishing in its waters, including harmful fisheries subsidies by distant nations. Moreover, pollution was putting the entire ecosystem at risk, in addition to affecting the livelihoods and economic opportunities of Solomon Islanders who depended on them. 93. Overall, the best-known consequences of climate change all had an impact on Solomon Islands: timber overexploitation increased the risk of flooding for local communities and exposed cleared land and villages to stronger winds, endangering agriculture and putting settled areas at greater risk during storms. Moreover, five uninhabited islands had disappeared owing to rising sea levels, and large swathes of land in six inhabited islands had been inundated. Communities residing on low-lying atolls continued to be under threat of sinking from rising sea levels. Thus, Solomon Islanders were facing a threat to the very right to survive. 94. The scattered islands that made up the country, along with its geographical terrain, made development and governance a costly undertaking. What was more, high transportation and communication costs made data collection very difficult. The availability of verifiable, reliable data remained a challenge, and Solomon Islands would continue to seek assistance from development partners in that regard. 95. Concerning partnerships, as outlined in the national report, it was important to begin moving away from assistance that tended to focus on employing consultants and organizing workshops. It was instead necessary to begin to look at transformational projects that were sustainable in the long term and that contributed to economic empowerment, particularly for such vulnerable groups as women, young people, children and persons with disabilities. 96. In terms of cooperation with human rights treaty bodies, Solomon Islands upheld the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as inherent components of its democracy. Solomon Islands had ratified and acceded to four of the nine core human rights treaties. In addition, it was a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. National legislation, policy frameworks and programmes were in place to promote, protect and incorporate the principles of those human rights treaties. Various policy frameworks and strategies were formulated in that regard, such as the national children’s policy, the national policy on gender equality and women’s development, the national policy on the elimination of violence against women and girls, the national youth policy and the national disability-inclusive development policy. Those legislative instruments and policies bore witness to the country’s commitment to uphold and protect the rights of its people. 97. The National Advisory Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the National Advisory and Action Committee on Children, together with support from non-governmental organizations, civil society and United Nations agencies, had been tasked with overseeing relevant laws and policies as part of the State’s commitment towards implementing the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The initiatives included cooperation, advocacy, training, education and the establishment of the SAFENET network, which provided referrals both for children and victims of gender-based violence. 98. The establishment of a national human rights institution is currently being explored. The Government continued to strengthen the work of its established integrity institutions, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Leadership Code Commission and the AntiCorruption Commission. Those institutions were supported by law to combat human rights violations, maladministration and corruption. 10