Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara The American development of Honiara as an army base and war depot turned Honiara into the new capital for the British Solomon Islands. The Catholic population tripled between 1947 and 1957, from 1000 to 3000. The first Holy Cross Church, built in 1947, was replaced by a much larger structure in 1957. The statues of the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph, which had somehow survived the Japanese air raids of the Battle of Guadalcanal, were positioned outside the 1957 church. These statues were re-positioned once again outside the 1978 cathedral; damage caused by bullets can be easily seen on both.
Town Ground, Honiara focus in addressing some of the fundamental issues affecting women's lives. These include environmental matters, providing accommodation for young girls, and establishing a kindergarten. The Association recently undertook a new micro-credit scheme for disadvantaged women in Honiara as a government pilot project funded by the United Nations Development Program but the project has collapsed as a result of the political crisis. YWCA SI runs a young women’s hostel in Honiara and kindergartens in both Honiara and Munda. Recently, the YWCA SI has also started to run training and programs for young women in leadership, human rights, gender and sexual and