Global Study On Child Poverty And Disparities (PDF) - Social Policy ...

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Thus, geography is critical to understanding the development challenges and constraints facing Vanuatu. Basic social service delivery has high per-unit costs, and there are capacity restraints to developing infrastructure. This implies some ongoing disadvantages for remote areas, such as distance from hospitals. Political context Vanuatu gained its independence in 1980, after 74 years of joint rule by Britain and France. It is a democratic republic with a 52-member Parliament elected every four years. The Prime Minister, Vanuatu’s Head of Government, is elected by the members of Parliament for a period of five years. There are 13 government ministries, which are led by 13 members of the Council of Ministers, which also has a significant role in policy and budget execution. Vanuatu held national elections on 2 September 2008. On 22 September 2008, Edward Natapei was elected Prime Minister by two votes in a secret ballot at the first sitting of the new parliament. After facing numerous votes of no confidence the Natapei government was defeated on 2 December 2010. The Deputy Prime Minister under the Natapei government, Sato Kilman, (People’s Progressive Party) became the new Prime Minister. The Kilman-led government is a loose alliance of eight parties. Figure 1.2: Population structure in 2006 Female Male 3,880 5,390 2,310 2,690 3,160 3,550 4,070 4,100 4,950 5,610 6,410 5,930 8,330 8,600 9,380 9,000 10,550 9,360 9,960 9,910 11,590 12,790 12,710 14,300 12,180 12,730 Source: ADB, UNDP and GOV 2006. Although it has declined from 5.3 in 1989, Vanuatu’s fertility rate, 4.0 in 2009, was among the highest among the PICs, as shown in Figure 1.3. Fertility rates are significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas (5.1 compared to 3.8 in 1999). 3 Teenage fertility rates are also high, 65 per 1,000 females age 15 to 19 in 2009. 60+ 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-45 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 The relationships between the National Government, provincial governments, and the municipal administrations of Port Vila, Luganville and Lenakel are important. In addition, the National Council of Chiefs has a role under the Constitution, which upholds matters of custom and tradition. Each island has an Island Council of Chiefs, which has responsibility for resolving disputes according to traditional local custom (ADB 2009, p. 47). Population The total population of Vanuatu was estimated to be 234,000 in 2009, and it is projected to be 245,000 in 2010. The median age is 20.6 years, amongst the youngest in the Pacific. Figure 1.2 shows the population structure in 2006. The largest age cohort is 5 to 9 years, followed by 10 to 14 years and 0 to 4 years. Boys outnumber girls up to the age of 15, but between 15 and 29 years, women outnumber men. This again reverses over the age of 30. Figure 1.3: Total fertility rates, Pacific Island countries Northern Marianas Palau Wallis And Futuna French Polynesia New Caledonia Cook Islands Fiji Islands Niue Guam Nauru Kiribati Tuvalu American Samoa FSM Vanuatu Samoa Tonga Marshall Islands Papua New Guinea Tokelau Solomon Islands 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Source: SPC, 2010 A number of PICs have relatively high rates of outward migration, but Vanuatu does not. This factor, in combination with the country’s youthful age structure and high fertility, means 3 http://www.spc.int/prism/country/vu/stats/SOCIAL/DEMOGRAPHY/demog-sum.htm, accessed 23/11/2009. 20
that Vanuatu has one of the highest rates of population growth in the Pacific, as shown in Figure 1.4. Figure 1.4: Population growth rates, Pacific Island countries -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Niue Wallis And Futuna Tokelau Northern Marianas Samoa Cook Islands Tonga FSM Fiji Islands Tuvalu Palau Marshall Islands French Polynesia American Samoa New Caledonia Kiribati Nauru Papua New Guinea Vanuatu Guam Solomon Islands Source SPC, 2010 High fertility and high population growth rates in Vanuatu pose serious challenges, including for child and maternal health. High fertility increases the risk to survival and proper care as large numbers of children spaced closely together place additional stress on mothers caring for children along with their other responsibilities in the household and in the community. High population growth rates also place pressures on health and education services. The population is projected to more than double from 245,000 in 2010 to 539,000 in 2050, requiring significant additional investment in schooling and health care. As discussed below, growth rates in Port Vila have been about twice the average rate, placing particular stress on service delivery in the capital. Family and community Many islands have similar values, customs and cultures, although there are over 100 different languages (many of these are similar). Over 70 per cent of the population speak an indigenous language, with the lingua-franca pidgin (known as Bislama) being spoken by a quarter of the population. French and English speakers constitute around 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of the population. The family is the basic social unit. The importance, for the household unit and for children, of traditional reliance on family, community and kinship networks has already been mentioned. These networks facilitate wide sharing of resources and provide social support, and are likely a key element in resilience to poverty. Traditional community and cultural values also play an important role for children in other dimensions of well-being, such as child protection and social protection. For instance, consultation with the Council of Chiefs played an important role in enabling the passing of the Family Protection Act. The community is also expected to engage with the family in child protection. For example, about 80 per cent of incidents of children’s non-compliance with the law are referred to the community – and few cases are referred to police or the justice system (UNICEF 2009). The place of children in a community and household is also important for understanding opportunities and limitations on opportunities. For example, cultural values may determine who receives education; expectations for children to contribute to household farming contradict international norms and can limit education opportunities. Children may be ‘adopted’ into other families as a means of strengthening kinship (UNICEF, 2009). The main areas that the traditional kastom system deals with today are land disputes, issues relating to marriage and children, disputes over the payment of debts and failure to honour agreements and offences committed by one person against another. All of these are generally referred to as trabol (trouble) or raorao (a dispute). In kastom, the overriding aim is to restore peace and harmony in the community, and therefore the distinction that is drawn in Western legal systems between punishment and compensation for criminal and civil matters does not apply. Structure of the economy According to the latest Human Development Report (UNDP 2010), Vanuatu’s GDP per capita in purchasing power terms in 2008 was US$4,084, a little lower than Indonesia’s and around 115th in the world. From 1990 to 2002, GDP per capita growth was extremely volatile, ranging from just over 10 per cent in 1991 to negative 5.7 per cent in 1999. This volatility 21
Page 3 and 4: © United Nations Children’s Fund
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Page 9 and 10: Tables Table 1.1: Composite vulnera
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Education trends are more positive,
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Overall, Malampa performs best of a
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has significant problems with child
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NZAID, 2008, ‘Launch of NZ’s Pa
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Table A1.3: Children under the nati
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% N Family vulnerability Orphan chi
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Odds of no deprivation Odds of at l
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Table A1.11: HIV testing and counse
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Birth is registered? (%) Birth is n
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Annex 2. Policies Table A2.1: Natio
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Document that sets out goals and st
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