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With the announcement of government's intention to open a mission in Malaysia, Lifhaus has recieved reports about another mission that has been generating a lot of debate in public media.  The SI Mission in Geneva has been operational since July 2010.  Lifhaus sources confirm that "the office has been manned by our ambassador in Brussels in the absence of a permanent representative at the mission."

A councillor, Simon Fuo'o from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official has been posted to Geneva to look after the mission until the arrival of the ambassador.  The Solomon Islands Government had appointed former head of the Fiji Mission, Moses Mose to take up the position in Geneva.  Local media had been skeptical about the establishment of this mission because of the very high cost of living in Switzerland.  However, government has been adament that the benefits of our presence in Geneva will far outweigh the cost of establishing and manning the office.

Lifhaus has also been privy to information that the mission may not be officially opened in September as expected because Ambassador Mose would not be in office by then.  Original plans were to hold the opening ceremony to coincide with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs trip to Geneva to adopt the UPR report presented earlier this year to the United Nations.  The official opening of the office will be decided by the ambassador once he has taken office later this year.

Reports reaching Lifhaus also indicated that Solomon Islands is not the only Pacific Island country to have recently established office in Geneva.  Sources indicate that Tonga will be establishing a presence in Geneva shortly.  The cost of establishing the offices will be greatly reduced by the Commonwealth Secretariat's efforts to subsidize rental costs in Geneva.

The SI mission in Geneva is located in Chemin Louis-Dunant 15, an office complex that already houses other permanent missions from Africa and Asia.