rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Demographics
In the most recent Kiribati Census in 2005,
the population was recorded as 92 533. Taking
birth rate patterns into consideration, the
population estimate was likely to be greater
than 100 000 by 2007. 333 The population is
reported as being ethnically homogeneous
with the 2000 Census identifying that it is
98.8 per cent Micronesian. The two dominant
religious faiths are Roman Catholic at
52 per cent and Protestant (Congregational)
at 40 per cent, with much smaller numbers
of Seventh-Day Adventists, Muslims, Baha’i,
Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and Church of
God, totalling 8 per cent (1999 Census). 334
Kiribati is included as one of the trial countries
in the migrant labour scheme operated
by Australia and New Zealand. In addition,
there are estimated at any given time to
be approximately 1000 seafarers (or 14 per
cent of the total workforce), representing the
main employment opportunity outside government
services. 335 However, media reports
note that this role is at risk due to substance
and alcohol abuse among the workers. 336
Government
The President of Kiribati is both the head of
state and the head of government. 337 There
is a 12-member Cabinet appointed by the
President from among the members of the
House of Parliament. Once the House of
Parliament has chosen the prospective presidential
candidates from among its members,
they compete in a general election. The President
is elected for a four-year term and
remains eligible for two additional terms. The
most recent election was held on 17 October
2007. 338 Democratic principles are reportedly
robust, in a relatively stable society with a
strong and resilient culture: 339 all positive
indicators for the development of programmatic
responses to drug and alcohol issues.
71
333 Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kiribati Country Brief:
(accessed March 2009).
334 Ibid.
335 Kiribati 2005 Census. Volume 2: Analytical Report, 2007. Available at: (accessed March 2009); M. Borovnik (2005), Remittances: an informal
but indispensable source of income for seafarer families in Kiribati. CIGAD Working Paper 8.
Palmerston North, New Zealand: Centre for Indigenous Governance and Development.
336 Kiribati to address seafarers caught smuggling drugs, Secretariat of the Pacific Community,
13 October 2008. Available at: (accessed March 2009).
337 CIA above, fn.332.
338 Ibid.
339 NZAID (2007), Strategy for the New Zealand Development Cooperation Programme with Kiribati,
2002–2007. Wellington: NZAID. Available at: .
Kiribati