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Analysing the Current Welfare of Kiribati's Population
Analysing the Current Welfare of Kiribati's Population
Written by: Rianna Bassal posted 6th June 2022 In Geographies of Human Wellbeing
What Might the Future of Kiribati Hold….
I think you'll agree with me when I say Kiribati is a gorgeous country, but is the wellbeing of the population as gorgeous as the land appears to be? Kiribati is a small island country in the central Pacific Ocean. The population of Kiribati is small, making it difficult for the existing population to earn money. There are approximately 119,000 permanent residents, and the net migration is -3,999. This means Kiribati is losing people, making it difficult for the country to maintain wellbeing, in part, due to the lack of money being generated. While the average life expectancy of the population in 2000 stood at 63 years, as of 2020 it has increased to 69 years. While there have been some improvements in life expectancy they have been minor and insignificant, considering the country has a small population; which is sadly decreasing. Further, statistics show that the Kiribati government is decreasing the percentage of its spending on education. Figure 2 demonstrates that expenditure on education has decreased between 2000 and 2001. This would greatly affect the younger generation, further adding to the employability concerns.
Environmental concerns compound Kiribati’s population problems. Kiribati is an island, and is surrounded by water, which typically gives the natives the advantage of being provided with fish and a means to water their crops. But, now Kiribati is realising the sea is turning against them for the first time. Figure 3 displays the rising sea levels in Kiribati, implying that the sea levels are rising. The sea levels are rising at an alarming rate, causing contamination of freshwater reserves, killing crops and flooding homes, making it detrimental to the wellbeing of Kiribati's population, and all its inhabitants. What might the future hold for Kiribati?
Time to Take Action?
Time to Take Action?
KiriCAN, an organisation manufactured to take action against climate change in Kiribati, is bringing awareness to climate change issues pertinent to Kiribati. KiriCAN is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) that has teamed with Pacific Calling Partnership, stationed in Sydney. KiriCAN has allied with many corporations, which provide them with many advantages. These allies provide KiriCan with access to money and the public. This is crucial to the organisation, as it must achieve relevance to be able to promote their visions. The underlying purpose of KiriCAN is to reinforce and empower civilizations, to effectively influence the development and national strategy of their countries. They desire to promote sustainable development and equity, and this will benefit Kiribati by protecting the environment from threatening human interference, as well as helping prevent climate change through spreading awareness on the matter. KriCAN can prove to be useful. However, the end objective may take time that Kiribati does not immediately possess. The population in Kiribati is rapidly decreasing, and dropping with the population is the wellbeing of the natives. While the overall initiative of KiriCAN has a well thought out strategy, and is important to implement immediately. Its flaw is that by the time they gather the attention of the public, the wellbeing and population in Kiribati will most likely be suffering from the effects of a lingering population and unlivable rising sea levels. The initiative has around a 40% chance success rate.
Proposing a Solution
Proposing a Solution
Kiribati may have an advantage when it comes to water, however being able to address rising sea levels has not been their strong suit. Therefore, increasing wealth must be Kiribati's prime objective in improving the wellbeing of its natives. Using the attractive beauty of the island may indirectly help the country address its environmental concerns. A beneficial solution would be to promote, as well as advertise specialised tourism to Kiribati. If Kiribati’s was to focus on marketing itself as offering high-end, secluded, modern, and environmentally friendly resorts, this would greatly increase tourism. The increase of tourism would be of service to Kiribati, not only would it help supply jobs for the locals, it would also drive wealth to the country. Bringing money to Kiribati is fundamentally important to addressing the rising sea levels. While increasing tourism may seem counterintuitive to solving the impact of negative climate change, the vision is to bring wealth to the country to ultimately assist in the very high costs of combating rising sea levels. By focusing government expenditure on this initiative, it would greatly improve the wellbeing of Kiribati's population on many fronts including, addressing the inconvenience of flooding; increasing the percentage of net migration; bringing about more jobs to spawn a larger population; and retaining the beauty that Kiribati offers its natives and the greater community.
Bibliography:
Bibliography:
Datacommons.org. 2022. Kiribati - Place Explorer - Data Commons. [online] Available at: <https://datacommons.org/place/country/KIR> [Accessed 2 June 2022].
Hdr.undp.org. 2022. | Human Development Reports. [online] Available at: <https://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/KIR> [Accessed 4 June 2022].
Results, S., 2022. Search Page - Austrade. [online] Austrade.gov.au. Available at: <https://www.austrade.gov.au/search.aspx?moduleid=8367&multisite=false&keywords=kiribati> [Accessed 4 June 2022].
Oecd.org. 2022. Aid at a glance charts - OECD. [online] Available at: <https://www.oecd.org/countries/kiribati/aid-at-a-glance.htm> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Iberdrola. 2022. Kiribati submerged by climate change - Iberdrola. [online] Available at: <https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/kiribati-climate-change> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
The Kiribati Climate Action Network. 2022. The Kiribati Climate Action Network. [online] Available at: <https://kirican.wordpress.com/> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Data.worldbank.org. 2022. Net migration - Kiribati | Data. [online] Available at: <https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SM.POP.NETM?locations=KI> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Livinia Collett
Rianna, you demonstrated a well presented task. I really enjoyed reading through your assignment. I think that it was a great idea to add the carousel of photos and overall your presentation looked great. Something that I think would be a good idea to add more about how the people who visit Kiribati and how they are affected by how Kiribati is. I find it interesting that you used a different style of a blog post. Your blog post was very engaging to read and I enjoyed learning more about how KiriCAN helps with Kiribati and its wellbeing. You described KiriCAN well and it was very informative to read and it was also very useful. Something that had caught my attention is that you did not have much information on the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the HDI (Human Development Index). I would have liked to see what information you had gotten on those two main things in Kiribati. In your “proposing a solution” paragraph, I thought that your ideas were very intriguing and they got me thinking, what else could we do to help? Overall, I think that your blog post was very interesting and I would read it again.
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Matthias Scanlan
Rianna, I thoroughly enjoyed your blog post and found it captivating. It provided an intuitive insight into how the decreasing population, lack of money, low average life expectancy, Government’s declining education budget and rising sea levels all contribute to the clearly low status of welfare in Kiribati. What captivated my attention the most was your subtitle “What might the future of Kiribati hold”. That grabbed me and forced me to wonder what does that mean? I would’ve liked to know, though, specific things like how much money are they lacking using maybe their Gross Domestic Product, and why is the average life expectancy low using their Human Development Index to explain? I’m thrilled to hear that KiriCAN is raising awareness about climate change. Advocating for change in the way our modern civilisations live around the world to become more sustainable and providing the resources to do that is absolutely vital to the survival and health of our environment and climates. I agree that bringing more money and tourism to Kiribati could help them to cope with the impacts of climate change and poverty, ultimately improving their wellbeing. This makes me also think, what else can we do to decrease the impacts of these problems? Thank you for further developing my understanding of Kiribati's welfare.
Do YOU know what is really going on in Kiribati?
Do YOU know what is really going on in Kiribati?
Written by: Livinia C
Is this what YOU have been told about Kiribati?
Background
Kiribati can pull you in by the way it looks. But is it a place you would really like to visit? YES? Well the wellbeing says otherwise. The World Bank states that a single road can connect up to 50 000 residents from Kiribati. Because the island country is small, a population of around 122 000 (from the year 2022) makes up most of the population. Figure 1 is a map on where Kiribati is located. People who wake up earlier than others usually sweep the roads in the early hours of the morning. People who visited Kiribati would have to adapt to their ways of living. Living in Kiribati can be difficult. Because it is not a developed country as such. The Australian Government states that they are a vulnerable country. In Kiribati, there are a rising number of communicable diseases such as pneumonia, hepatitis and skin infections. Non - communicable diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure are also relevant. “We must distribute supplies to outer islands in a timely manner, which can be challenging as our islands are scattered across the ocean”. This explains that many people are being referred to overseas hospitals because they are not able to get the right treatment in Kiribati, their own home.
Figure 1
GDP in Kiribati
In Kiribati the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is 199.6 million USD which was last updated in 2020. The GDP is a measure of someone's country. The world is expecting that due to most current things happening in the world right now that are affecting most things, the GDP is expected to fall. Figure 2 shows the rising of the GDP.
HDI in Kiribati
The HDI (Human Development Index) in Kiribati is 0.630 which is around a medium human development category. This is valued from 2019. Kiribati places itself at 139 out of the 189 countries. With the current situations, many people have had to leave things behind and enter poverty or extreme poverty.
Figure 2
How does the P3 project help Kiribati?
“Kiribati is a pretty special place”. The P3 Project was a group of young New Zealanders who took part in a trip in 2017 to help kickstart a new partnership between Kiribati and New Zealand. The P3 project’s aim is to completely stop extreme poverty all over before 2030. They are starting with Asia and the Pacific (Kiribati being one of them). They have a “volunteer focused theory of change”. This means that they start by volunteering and by the end of it they have put extreme poverty in the past. The P3 project states that they first educate the you New Zealanders on what they will be doing and how it all works. They are unable to visit all of Kiribati so they first visited South Tarawa and made a difference there.
They also provide support for them. They really wanted to listen to them and learn about them. The P3 Project states that when the talk and listen to people from Kiribati, they really do listen and have learnt that the small things do really matter in life.
What should we be doing?
Kiribati may be one of the toughest places to communicate with. My thought is that I would like to focus on healthcare. The people who live in Kiribati have very poor health and due to the lack of healthcare workers there are more and more people suffering each day because of this. I would take part in an organisation that would be able to help with medical issues. The world organisation states that people regularly suffer from pneumonia, hepatitis, skin infections, diabetes and high blood pressure. Kiribati is also suffering from climate change. “Kiribati, the first country rising sea levels will swallow up as a result of climate change”. As Iberdrola displays Kiribati is one of the worst places to suffer from climate change. It is time to take action. Refer to figure 3.
Figure 3
Human well-being in Kiribati
Pacific Water states that the standard of health in Kiribati is low. Compared to Australia's wellbeing and health factors, Kiribati does not compare. One of the major problems in Kiribati is their sanitation. One of the main sources of accessing clean and drinkable water is imported water from overseas. They have other ways of using water for bathing themselves. They use seawater for that. For cooking, take the salt out of the water. This process is called desalination. Some concerns with water resources for Kiribati is having enough access to safe water for drinking, cooking, bathing and appropriate sanitation. “High population growth and increasing urbanisation have placed pressures on water, sanitation and housing. Kiribati has the lowest access to clean water and sanitation in the pacific”. Re-thinking your visit?
Bibliography:
2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/kiribati/kiribati-country-brief> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
2022. [ebook] Available at: <http://file:///Users/liviniacollett/Downloads/ccsbrief_kir_en%20(5).pdf> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/12/03/kiribati-the-road-to-a-better-life> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/kiribati-climate-change#:~:text=Kiribati%2C%20the%20first%20country%20rising,a%20result%20of%20climate%20change&text=Global%20warming%20is%20causing%20glaciers,for%20islands%20and%20coastal%20regions.> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Becky Alexis-Martin, J., 2022. How to save a sinking island nation. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190813-how-to-save-a-sinking-island-nation> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Data.worldbank.org. 2022. GDP per capita (current US$) - Kiribati | Data. [online] Available at: <https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?end=2020&locations=KI&start=1970&view=chart> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Hdr.undp.org. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KIR.pdf> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
P3 Foundation. 2022. The Kiribati Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.p3foundation.org/the_kiribati_project#:~:text=The%20Kiribati%20Project%20%2D%20P3%20Foundation> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Unsdg.un.org. 2022. UNSDG | UN in Action - Kiribati. [online] Available at: <https://unsdg.un.org/un-in-action/kiribati> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Rianna Bassal
Livinia expressed interesting ideas when it comes to the action she would take to help the Kiribati natives with their poor healthcare. I believe that for any community to thrive, the health and wellbeing of every individual is a crucial part to leading a fulfilling life. I think that the root of the healthcare crisis in Kiribati starts with the fact that there is a lack of proper education within the country. If the education system was as advanced as many other countries, I believe that the problem regarding the lack of healthcare workers wouldn't be such a concern. If the Gilbertese had the means to higher education, then there would be many more opportunities for people to become health workers and/or first responders. Thus meaning that the healthcare crisis would be reduced immensely. Livinia stated that she believes it is time to take action in regards to climate change in Kiribati. My questions are, where would you begin? What steps would you take to improve climate change? And do you have any ideas on how to provide Kiribati with cleaner water?
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Declan Savage
I find it interesting that you implore some other words and describe what life is like for the average person who resides in Kiribati. I suggest the idea of deploying mobile bathrooms to areas where lots of people live and where it is easy to move around in. This could enhance your research by displaying what other countries and organizations are doing to help the country and people of Kiribati. A question I have about your blog is why you didn't talk about the HPI (Happy Planet Index) of Kiribati as I would like to learn more about this topic of how high the well-being is in Kiribati based on the HPI rating. Another question I have about Kiribati is what is being done to support and help the healthcare system in Kiribati and how this could impact the overall wellbeing of the country.
Constructive Comment 3
Constructive Comment 3
Written by: Sophie Weule
To begin with, an excellent job with the title to pull in the reader from the get go. Having rhetorical questions throughout really helped me as a reader to reflex and reshape my thinking. I think a possible thing to improve on would be further explaining key topics such as, ‘why are there higher cases of disease and diabetic cases?’, and showing specific numbers from Kiribati comparing them with a country like Australia. Same goes for showing ‘how much sea levels have risen in Kiribati and what will the effects be if it does rise?.’ Great suggestion on how you might go about to improve their wellbeing, as it comes across as a realistic and achievable goal. My proposal of an idea about improving wellbeing in Kiribati would be to have cleaner and safer environments to commute to and from, sleep and work at so that not only if they are able to come back from hospital healthier, they would be able to remain healthy for longer. Enjoyable insight into P3 Project as it is a good representation of what other countries are doing in places like Kiribati and not just showing things that Australia does to LD countries. Well done Liv. :)
Wellbeing levels slowly drowning in Kiribati...
Wellbeing levels slowly drowning in Kiribati...
Written by: Matthias S
Background
When most people think of Kiribati, usually they would think of its 33 magnificent coral atolls/islands scattered across the Central Pacific Ocean as seen in Figures 1 & 2, vast beaches, or fascinating seabird wildlife. But the reality under the surface is Kiribati is a struggling nation! Kiribati is the current home to around 122,950 people that most commonly spend their lives fishing and farming. It's a simple life for them, or so you would think...
GDP in Kiribati
According to World Bank, during 2020, Kiribati’s overall Growth Domestic Product (per year) was 199.6 million US dollars and per capita was only 1,670.82 USD! In comparison to countries such as Australia’s 51,812.15 USD per capita, that is extremely concerning. As seen in Figure 3, there has been a fairly steep increase in GDP from 1985 to 2020, attributed to their fishing and subsistence farming industry, but in comparison to the rest of the world, it ranks as the poorest country in Oceania. This low value of goods and services provided in Kiribati is a major factor to their low wellbeing. But it isn’t the only factor…
HDI in Kiribati
The Human Development Index measures quality of life based on life expectancy, Gross National Income per capita and years of schooling. Kiribati’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.630 which is a 13.9% increase from 2000. The life expectancy on average during 2019 was 68.4. This places it in the medium human development category at 134th out of 189 countries and territories.
Climate Change Threatening Kiribati's Survival
Kiribati currently accumulates a land area of 811 square km, but due to climate change and rising sea levels, that number will gradually decrease. Climate change is arguably the biggest issue confronted by Kiribati, impacting almost every aspect of daily life, such as rising sea levels, decreasing land area for civilisation, increased water temperatures, threatening freshwater reserves and more storms destroying the coral reefs and causing an irreversible loss of biodiversity. Kiribati is identified as the first country to catastrophically submerge under the rising sea levels caused by melting glaciers. Does Kiribati sound like an ideal place to live now?
Food Security & Poverty Posing Problems
Food is quite difficult to access in Kiribati due to their unacceptably low rates of Gross National Income ($4,250PPP p.p.) during 2020 and GDP. Their poverty, according to The Borgen Project, is mostly credited to the country’s isolated location and lack of industrial contact with the rest of the world. There are also limited job opportunities and poor access infrastructure. The increasing dependence on imported food because of decreasing farm land combined with the country’s limited budgets deems the food security in Kiribati as poor, leading to an increase in some health issues.
Life Expectancy Not Improving Fast Enough
According to the Macrotrends, the current (2022) average life expectancy in Kiribati from birth for both genders is 68.9, which is a 0.340% increase from the previous year 2021 as seen in Figure 4. But when compared to the rest of the world, it ranks around 174th, and last out of the 20 countries in Oceania. A contributor to this is an imbalance in population density in proportion to its very small land area, often creating pollution. Accessibility to healthcare is also poor, withholding only two hospitals as of 2019 out of the whole country on South Tarawa (the main island) that are basic and overworked.
Kiribati's Wellbeing Rates: Low or High?
Considering the evidence above, we can fairly say that unfortunately Kiribati has a poor status of wellbeing, despite showing a very slow increase in general standards of living.
WHO's Involvement In Improving Kiribati's Welfare
WHO (World Health Organisation) is a United Nations government agency involving countries and partners around the world with the goal of preserving health, sustaining peace and serving the vulnerable. WHO has formed a “country cooperation strategy” with Kiribati for 2018-2022 to improve the health aspects of wellbeing like improving population health, providing better access to healthcare and basic services, and advancing development. More specifically. They aim to:
Revitalise primary health care services and systems
Reduce disease and death from communicable diseases and NCDs
To assess risks and weaknesses and institute public health event management plans
This explains the gradual increase in Kiribati’s life expectancy, but it will take a while before healthcare access and life expectancy levels are up to standard.
Potential Initiative
A modern initiative that could be developed to improve the wellbeing of Kiribati should be one that passionately addresses the biggest threat to its liveability, climate change. The initiative should aim to reduce the impact of climate change by discussing how the More Developed Countries can reduce their carbon footprint to slow down global warming. They would work with governments to offer foreign refuge for those unable to live in their homes. If this is achievable, it’ll be beneficial for not only Kiribati, but the whole world as well.
Bibliography
Borgen Project (2016). Poverty in Kiribati: Putting It in Perspective. [online] The Borgen Project. Available at: https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-kiribati/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Cauchi, J.P., Correa-Velez, I. and Bambrick, H. (2019). Climate change, food security and health in Kiribati: a narrative review of the literature. Global Health Action, 12(1), p.1603683. doi:10.1080/16549716.2019.1603683.
Macbio (n.d.). Kiribati. [online] MACBIO. Available at: http://macbio-pacific.info/kiribati/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Macdonald, B.K. and Foster, S. (2019). Kiribati | Culture, History, & People. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Kiribati [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].
Macrotrends (n.d.). Kiribati Life Expectancy 1950-2022. [online] www.macrotrends.net. Available at: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/KIR/kiribati/life-expectancy [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
UNDP (2020). Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene Briefing note for countries on the 2020 Human Development Report Kiribati. [online] Available at: https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KIR.pdf [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
WHO (2018). Our work. [online] Who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/kiribati/our-work [Accessed 6 Jun. 2022].
World Bank (2020). Kiribati - Place Explorer - Data Commons. [online] datacommons.org. Available at: https://datacommons.org/place/country/KIR?utm_medium=explore&mprop=amount&popt=EconomicActivity&cpv=activitySource%2CGrossDomesticProduction&hl=en [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
WorldAtlas (2019). The Poorest Countries in Oceania. [online] WorldAtlas. Available at: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-poorest-countries-in-oceania.html#:~:text=Kiribati%20%2D%20%241%2C641 [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Worldometer (2022). Kiribati Population (2021) - Worldometer. [online] www.worldometers.info. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/kiribati-population/#:~:text=The%20current%20population%20of%20Kiribati [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Jaedon Lynn
I found that Matthias presented his chosen country very informatively, he gave plenty of information relevant to the topic. He very clearly showed the low levels of well-being in Kiribati. His thoughts on how to improve Kiribati are insightful and understandable. Focusing on climate change in Kiribati as it is the most prevalent problem. He explained the best way to reduce climate change in Kiribati, to reduce their carbon footprint as other first-world countries have to improve the rate of climate change. I would recommend explaining more about the history of Kiribati and its culture. I would like to know more about Kiribati, as this is the first time I have heard of it. If there was more information given I would be able to resonate more with this place, some facts about Kiribati would help improve this a lot. Such as famous places, the best places to visit, what the culture is like and pictures of beaches and other landscapes. I still have a few questions about Kiribati, such as why there are people not getting paid very much, and how pay could be improved.
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Keonna Thornton
Matthias successfully provided insight into Kiribati; using comparison to inform us of how backwards Kiribati is in terms of Wellbeing. The research was conducted well, and he has used a variety of sources to aid his research. Matthias routinely compares Kiribati’s statistics to Australia and its neighbouring countries; this is very insightful and useful to the readers. Matthias has made it clear that Kiribati’s life expectancy is slowly improving, however Matthias stresses it is not improving fast enough. It is astounding that the life expectancy in Kiribati is 68 years of age in 2022. And (as Matthias said) it ranks 174 in the world. This is deeply concerning. In order to combat this, Kiribati could ensure its healthcare is ‘up to scratch’ and the community is obtaining its basic needs. Overall, Matthias’ research was well executed and well written. Matthias could have expanded on the reasoning behind Kiribati’s low life expectancy - to answer questions such as: What are they doing to improve their life expectancy? Or Why is Kiribati’s life expectancy so low? Good job on your research, it was laid out well and was easy to follow. The added suspense certainly made things interesting!
Constructive Comment 3
Constructive Comment 3
Written by: Raphael Nott
I was captivated by your analysis of the well-being of Kiribati. Just the beginning of your blog tells the reader fascinating facts abouts Kiribati and gets the reader curious to read on. It was Intriguing to learn that Kiribati's GDP per capita was only 1,670.82 USD and that incomarison to Australia’s 51,812.15 USD per capita it was not very high. It was also interesting to discover that the reason for difficulty to access food was due to their low GNI and GDP. I thought your initiative was quite astounding with original ideas but if you felt compelled you could have also talked about Kiribati’s life expectancy and how it could have been improved. For example, to Improve the life expectancy you could have touched on what kind of aid needed to be sent to fix that or researched what is causing the most deaths other than old age and what can be done to change that. All together a great blog post although I would have liked you to provide more information on your initiative on how the more developed countries could have executed the reduction of climate change by informing what the developed countries need to do.
Organisations addressing Kirbati's wellbeing levels:
Australian Marist solidarity (AMS) is a nonprofitable organisation that uses donations to help support Kiribati’s education systems. St Louis High School is a school located in Tarawa. The island has a population of 40,000 people and is at risk of poverty and is struggling with the threat of sea levels rising due to climate change. St Louis High School is in urgent need of an upgrade, the young people in Kiribati should be able to go to school comfortably and receive a good education. The current bathroom situation at St Louis High School is extremely unhygienic, with unflashable toilets and no doors. AMS will use their donations to upgrade the school hygiene, the better hygiene will help the kids feel more comfortable and improve their safety levels and wellbeing and allow them to focus on their studies. Unhygienic situations at school put the children at risk of possible infections and stress, negatively impacting their wellbeing, their mental health and physical health.
The Exploration Of Kiribati's Wellbeing
The Exploration Of Kiribati's Wellbeing
Written by: Zahlia S
Background information on Kiribati’s wellbeing:
The human development index (HDI) for Kiribati is 0.630, HDI is a measurement of a country’s overall wellbeing, the higher the number, the better quality of life. Kiribati’s HDI level is recorded as a medium level of wellbeing. Kiribati’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 was 199.6 million USD, the GDP per capita was $1,626. In comparison to larger countries such as the United States and Japan whose GDP per capita is $35,000+, Kiribati earns very little, lowering their quality of life potentially. With a life expectancy of around 68 years, Kiribati has a low life expectancy. The young age of death in Kiribati can negatively affect the people, the low life expectancy is due to poverty levels and the inability of good health care mainly. Kiribati’s infant mortality rate in 2019 was 4%, 40 babies per 1,000 are stillborn. Compared to Australia, only around 3 per 1000 children born are still birthed, Kiribati infant mortality rate is unfortunately high, plumping the country's wellbeing levels. The CO2 emission levels in Kiribati were 0.69 tons in 2019, the low levels may indicate Kiribati might have less modern technology and industries.
A new possible idea to help Kiribati:
With Kiribati being the most affected by climate change, the continuous threat of sea levels rising. The constant worry of your home and you’re belongings being taken away from you by flooding would seriously impact your wellbeing. An initiative to help lessen the worry for Kiribati citizens may be with donations that will go towards president Taneti Maamau’s idea of rising the islands of Kiribati to make it harder for the islands to flood. Money will be needed for the initial project itself and for the people as they'd have to relocate their homes whilst the land becomes higher. Although pricey and time-consuming, the idea to increase the height of Kiribati’s land will have positive effects on the lives in Kiribati. They will be able to live in their homeland with no more threat to the sea levels and have a better quality of life, as they will have more land to grow crops etc, as it will not be flooded all the time.
Bibliography:
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Data.worldbank.org. 2022. Life expectancy at birth, total (years) - Kiribati | Data. [online] Available at: <https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=KI> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Mattina, C., 2022. Life Expectancy Linked to Population Well-Being Measures at the County Level. [online] AJMC. Available at: <https://www.ajmc.com/view/life-expectancy-linked-to-population-well-being-measures-at-the-county-level> [Accessed 3 June 2022].
Rosen, E., 2022. Climate Change in Kiribati. [online] ArcGIS StoryMaps. Available at: <https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7f455136b85f4edd8655d15a89b5039f> [Accessed 2 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Annabelle M
Fantastic job Zahlia! You have made a clear and very cohesive blog post. Your statistics helped me understand what it would be like to live in Kiribati with a low standard of living. With high rates of poverty and no adequate access to health care, you showed how it created a domino effect and consequently created a low life expectancy. Your initiative for increasing the height of Kiribati's land is thoughtful and will definitely improve well-being allowing citizens to farm without the concern of flooding to ensure food security for their families and communities after the project is done. Australian Marist Solidarity was interesting to see the lack of support towards St Louis High School but thanks to the help of AMS they are able to get access to proper hygiene and proper plumbing, creating a safer and better learning environment.
With the country having a lower gross domestic product and lack of funding already, is building up the land going to impact the life of the citizens whilst being built due to thins being such a cost and time-consuming project? Also with a lack of resources due to Kiribati being such a small island will they be able to complete it on time in order not to disrupt the public?
Overall amazing job, you showed deep understanding and knowledge of the well-being of Kiribati.
Annabelle :)
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Lorenzo C
Throughout this blog-post, there were many ideas that I found interesting and insightful. Firstly, the blog spoke about the President’s idea of raising the islands to prevent flooding. Also, an interesting point highlighted that some schools in Kiribati have no serviceable plumbing.
Both CO2 emissions and sea level changes were both spoken about throughout the text and are both connected. Kiribati is susceptible from sea level rise due to carbon emissions and therefore could become a key lobbying partner, together with other micronesian states, to highlight the dangers and issues of climate change. Perhaps Kiribati could advertise itself as being a pristine tourist destination that could be lost if sea levels changes too much. They could decrease the cost for tourists to come to their country, possibly making more go to Kiribati boosting the economy and raising awareness.
President Taneti Maamau’s idea of raising the islands seems like a very large and costly approach to fixing the islands problems. How much money would be needed to increase the elevation of Kiribati to make it habitable post seal level rise? NASA (2022) suggest that sea levels could increase by between 0.3m and 0.6m by 2100, whilst other sources suggest that sea levels could change by up to 3m during the same period.
The strengths and weaknesses of Kiribati
The strengths and weaknesses of Kiribati
Written by: Lorenzo C
Kiribati is a nation in Micronesia that is made up of 33 islands, and covers 3.5 million square kilometres of the pacific ocean. Kiribati is home to 110,000 people. Some of the key aspects of Kiribati are outlined in the following sections.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
In 2020, the GDP of Kiribati is 199.6 million dollars (USD), making it the poorest country in Oceania (Salaryexplorer, 2022). Kiribati has always been a poor country, especially since its economy crashed post 1979 when phosphate deposits, which were the country’s main source of income, were exhausted. In 2020, the country’s main income is from selling rights to fish in its territorial waters and tourism (World Bank 2021).
Figure 1. Kiribati in relation to Australia. Three major island clusters, Phoenix islands, Gilbert islands, Line islands
Figure 1. Kiribati in relation to Australia. Three major island clusters, Phoenix islands, Gilbert islands, Line islands
Figure 2. Kiribati HDI in 2020
Human Development Index (HDI)
Kiribati's HDI value for 2019 is 0.630, which puts the country in the medium human development category, positioning it at 134 out of 189 countries and territories (UN HDRO, 2022).
Climate change
The highest point in Kiribati is 83 metres above sea level (island Banaba); however, the average elevation is only 1.8 metres above sea level. This places Kiribati at a high risk of inundation due to climate driven sea level change. Many residents are subsistence farmers and depend on being able to grow and sell their own produce (COP23, 2022).
Life expectancy
The life expectancy of a child born in 2020 is 69 years of age, averaged between men and women. This is a significant increase from 47 in 1960 (World Bank 2021).
Infant mortality rate
The infant mortality rate in Kiribati in 2020 was 36.9 per 1000 live births. This is significantly worse than the rate in Australia, which is 3.0 per 1000 live births for the same period (World Bank 2021).
Is the populations well-being rated high or low?
Kiribati is a poor country with a relatively low wellbeing rate. There is a high chance of Kiribati losing land surface due to climate change (sea level rise); therefore, also losing living space for residents and agricultural land (COP23 2022). Life expectancy is increasing and infant mortality rate is decreasing, improving wellbeing. These two points are in contrast to each other with physical wellbeing improving, whereas the population is faced with losing their country and the population is growing increasing stress on local resources (World Bank 2021)
Lifebox NGO
LIfebox is a non-profit, global organisation that works to improve the safety of surgery and anaesthesia in low- and middle-income countries. The overall objective of the NGO ‘Lifebox’ is to ensure that surgical teams everywhere can provide the safest care possible to patients. In Kiribati, this NGO works on three key aspects of improving the surgical environment through: improving anaesthesia safety, reducing surgical infection rates, and strengthening surgical teamwork. Lifebox works with local organisations to provide training and tools for safer surgery (Lifebox 2020).
Lifebox has improved surgical safety by providing cheap Pulse Oximeters that are specifically designed for high use and low resource environments, such as Kiribati. The Pulse Oximeters improve surgical outcomes by providing monitoring of the perioperative process. Furthermore, Lifebox, through tools training and teamwork, have reduced surgical infection rates to a rate that is closer to that of Europe and the USA. As such, Lifebox has improved the wellbeing of residents of Kiribati (Lifebox 2020).
Proposed initiative
A simple new initiative that could be established is a works program to improve access to safe drinking water. The islands of Kiribati have no major rivers or streams, and drinking water is largely limited to lenses of groundwater that have accumulated through rainfall percolating through the sandy soil. This type of water source is easily impacted by climate change, severe weather events (such as cyclones) and saline water intrusion, all of which can wipe out drinking water sources (literally, overnight in the case of cyclones). The new initiative would develop methods to capture and store rainwater in either above ground or below ground water tanks. The initiative would also include managed aquifer recharge and recovery systems to improve the conditions and volume of the groundwater sources. This initiative will improve wellbeing in Kiribati by improving access to safe and reliable drinking water, which is a critical requirement for healthy communities and economies.
Bibliography
Cop23 (2022). Kiribati - Cop23. [online] Available at: <https://cop23.com.fj/kiribati/ > [Accessed 28 May 2022].
Lifebox (2022). Global Surgery Organization - Lifebox - Homepage. [online] Available at: <https://www.lifebox.org/ > [Accessed 1 June 2022].
Reliefweb (2020a). Water for Life: Safe and sustainable drinking water for Kiritimati Island. https://reliefweb.int/report/kiribati/water-life-safe-and-sustainable-drinking-water-kiritimati-island#:~:text=With%20no%20rivers%20or%20streams,is%20a%20critical%20development%20issue. [accessed 3 June 2022]
Reliefweb (2020b). New projects to strengthen food security, access to clean drinking water & provide renewable energy access for Pacific people. [online] Available at: <https://reliefweb.int/report/fiji/new-projects-strengthen-food-security-access-clean-drinking-water-provide-renewable > [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Salaryexplorer (2022). Average Salary in Kiribati 2022 - The Complete Guide. [online] Available at: <http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=112&loctype=1#:~:text=A%20person%20working%20in%20Kiribati%20typically%20earns%20around%203%2C880%20AUD,%2C%20transport%2C%20and%20other%20benefits. > [Accessed 1 June 2022].
UN HDRO (2022). The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene. [online] Available at: United Nation Human Development Report Office site: <https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KIR.pdf > [Accessed 29 May 2022].
World Bank (2021). Kiribati GDP data. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0038130/GDP-ranking [Accessed 3 June 2022]
Worldometers (2022). Kiribati Population (2022) - Worldometer. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/kiribati-population/ > [Accessed 1 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Marcus Ma
Great job Lorenzo. Took me by surprise to see that the main income of the country was originally phosphate deposits, which were almost completely empty and caused an economical crash after 1979, leading Kiribati to sell rights to fish in its territorial waters as well as tourism. Your proposed initiative really stood out, as the country is heavily impacted by its location and climate change. It is evident that Kiribati doesn’t have easy access to safe drinking water, reducing the country’s wellbeing drastically, so providing a way to access safe water quickly and easily is a brilliant idea. Perhaps a way to improve the wellbeing of Kiribati would be to bring more educators and teachers to the country, as well as teach the population on how to improve the country without help from other countries. To become more self-sufficient and independent. Climate change has caused the sea level to rise more, especially in the past century or more. What are the predicted years until the country could become uninhabitable if the sea level continues to rise? And what is the country itself doing to combat climate change/global warming?
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Samantha G
I appreciate Lorenzo researching this country as I had never heard of it before, especially as it is so close to Australia. I thought it was insightful to learn about the gross domestic product in relation to Australia. The Human Development Rating also allowed me to understand where the country stood in relation to the country I research (Ukraine) and how poor Kiribati is.
It is quite interesting how you have outlined the facts and wellbeing indicators of Kiribati in nice paragraphs, as it helps to more easily understand these factors and how they impact daily life in Kiribati. Your presentation helped me to understand the difficulties of the people living in Kiribati, and your initiative showed what could be done to fix it.
I was very surprised to learn about the life expectancy and the significant change from 1960. It would be very interesting to understand what has caused such a notable improvement in the outcome for the citizens. Again with the infant mortality rate, such a sad statistic, it would be interesting to understand what has caused this heartbreaking number of deaths.
Thank you Lorry for such a well thought out and researched blog post.
Map of Kiribati (Figure 1)
Development assistance in Kiribati
Development assistance in Kiribati
Development assistance of Kiribati is a government-run organization that provides assistance to Kiribati by helping them develop their health and economic problems. Their three main initiatives are health security, stability, and economic recovery. They help health security by sending medicine, medical supplies, self-protective equipment as well as covid-19 vaccines. Stability is how well and orderly the islands function. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping to gain a larger amount of basic education, help grow and strengthen the island's legal system and help women and young girls from gender-based violence. This initiative really focuses on the well-being of the island as it helps keep the young and old safe from violence as well as educates young local children. Economy recovery is a response to the covid-19 outbreak that happened in the past two years. Their job is to help the islands of Kiribati to get back on their feet after the financial troubles of covid. This is through new infrastructure projects, online schooling, and new job opportunities in Kiribati to improve the income and economic stability of the island of the islands. So far the Australian government hasn’t been super successful in helping well-being in Kiribati as the oceans rise and start taking more and more land. Other services from Australia are helping to try and prevent this outcome for the islands. Although this is happening 24.4 million dollars are being put in to help the well-being in Kiribati and help provide a more normal and stable life.
Kiribati: 12% Land 88% Water
Kiribati: 12% Land 88% Water
Written by: Mitchell S
What kind of stat is Kiribati in?
Kiribati is a region in the Western Pacific ocean with a moderately low human well-being. This region consists of 33 islands are split up into three groups the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands. (figure 1). Kiribati ranks 134 out of 189 on the United Nations Human Development index putting Kiribati in the low range for well-being in the pacific island regions. According to Global Edge, the population of Kiribati is 119,446 with a life expectancy of 68 years. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of Kiribati is less than 0.01% of the global income as only 1630.03 USD per capita is annually made! Not only that but Kiribati people also suffer from a high mortality rate of 40.1 per 1,000 live births which is over 4 times the average expected mortality rate of children. Overall Kiribati’s well-being is not very high as disease, low income, low health care, and income spread across the islands from person to person.
Kiribati Flooding Prevention
As the region of Kiribati is 12% land and 88% ocean it is very susceptible to the rising oceans as climate change continues to rise waters by 0.14 inches per year (0.33cm). According to the University of Texas even if the ‘current’ global climate policy goals are met then Kiribati will still be unlivable and completely submerged by the year 2100, only 78 years from now. The initiative isn’t to stop the inevitable but help slow it down to improve the physical well-being of the people around the Kiribati region. Making small dams and runoff rivers that divert water away from the small towns and airports is a way to help keep the people safe and more available for development. More suitable housing with materials and designs to help counteract the flash floods and rising sea levels, like houses on stilts and houses made out of Composite, PVC, Capstock, and ASA wood. The initiative would help not only the environmental and technological wellbeing of the islands but the emotional well-being as well. The people would have better and more stable homes to live in, as there wouldn’t be houses made of flimsy weak materials but houses that can withstand the climate better. Initiative: “Flood Prevention” would help the people of Kiribati with the flooding crisis and have more Effective and efficient housing. The Well-being of the island would improve as more people gain better places to live and more sustainable use of the land.
Bibliography
2022. Development assistance in Kiribati. [online] Available at: <https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/kiribati/development-assistance/development-assistance-in-kiribati> [Accessed 3 June 2022].
Globaledge.msu.edu. 2022. Kiribati: Statistics. [online] Available at: <https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/kiribati/statistics> [Accessed 29 May 2022].
Hdr.undp.org. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KIR.pdf> [Accessed 29 May 2022].
Ray, C., 2022. Rejecting Reality: Kiribati’s Shifting Climate Change Policies. [online] Sites.utexas.edu. Available at: <https://sites.utexas.edu/climatesecurity/2019/12/31/kiribati-policy-shift/> [Accessed 3 June 2022].
Tradingeconomics.com. 2022. Kiribati GDP - 2021 Data - 2022 Forecast - 1970-2020 Historical - Chart - News. [online] Available at: <https://tradingeconomics.com/kiribati/gdp> [Accessed 29 May 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Mason
Mitchell, reading your blog was truly intriguing and has helped me to gain a better grasp on the struggles of people in Kiribati. I truly enjoyed reading about your flooding prevention program and the statistics were quite frightening. It is, however, reassuring to know that there are initiatives out there such as what you have listed. The thoroughness of your research is clear to see and definitely made for an attention-grabbing read. I would also like to propose the severity of the farming situation present in Kiribati, with COVID 19 impacting the smaller and more remote communities dreadfully, information is our best friend. Organisations already established in other countries like Papua new guinea have seen awe-inspiring results that provide hope. With a lack of access to communication with the main communities, the rural and agricultural communities are very vulnerable to these influxes of new diseases. This is why it is so paramount that information is accessible. Just one question to finish off: when you said “the government hasn’t been super successful in helping wellbeing”, what do you think they are doing wrong and what would you propose to aid the issue. Overall a great read and very excited to see what you say next!
Figure 1: Detailed Map of Kiribati
Figure 2: HDI line graph
Bibliography:
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2017). Keeping neighbouring farmers safe to secure our region’s economic recovery. [online] Available at: https://www.dfat.gov.au/development/australias-development-program/stories-impact/keeping-neighbouring-farmers-safe-secure-our-regions-economic-recovery [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Nationsencyclopedia.com. (2022). Education - Kiribati. [online] Available at: https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Kiribati-EDUCATION.html [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Cdp2018 and Plen (n.d.). Committee for Development Policy 20 th Plenary Session Vulnerability Profile of Kiribati 2 Contents. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/CDP-PL-2018-6b.pdf.
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2017). Development assistance in Kiribati. [online] Available at: https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/kiribati/development-assistance/development-assistance-in-kiribati [Accessed 5 Jun. 2022].
Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene Briefing note for countries on the 2020 Human Development Report Kiribati. (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KIR.pdf.
Kiribati: Where pictures don't Capture the whole Story
Kiribati: Where pictures don't Capture the whole Story
Written by: Mason W
Background
Kiribati is an island country found in the central pacific ocean as seen in figure 1. Classified as one of the least developed countries, Kiribati is home to vast health and safety issues. The country is currently being supported by many third parties, whether governments or non-government organisations.
But this help is not enough!
What's the problem?
Health security in Kiribati is a pressing issue with a lack of access to essential workers, and health services as a direct impact of COVID 19. With a Gross Domestic Product of 199.6 million as of 2020 seen in the World Bank website, Kiribati ranks to be the lowest-earning country in the pacific ocean. As well as this, the estimated literacy rate of adults in Kiribati was 93% in 2020, and with scarce access to secondary education, many students had and have to acquire scholarships to study abroad.
How has it happened?
Kiribati Experiences major impacts on the stability of their well-being from predominant issues like climate change and food insecurity. Kiribati’s geographic position plays a major role in determining the well-being of the people in the communities.
What's Being done to help?
Thankfully, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Australia a part of their ‘Developmental Assistance Plan’. The act consists of 3 pillars or stages. Pillar 1 includes the supply of health services. These include:
Essential workers
Health safety resources
Personal protective equipment
Support equitable COVID 19 vaccines
This form of support is crucial for Kiribati. When referring to Save Kiribati.com, it is clear to see that Kiribati has a concerning low life expectancy paired with the highest under 5 mortality rate in the Pacific ocean. Stage 2 aims to provide general stability, this includes education services and resources that communities in Kiribati may otherwise not have access to.
And lastly, pillar 3. This stage promotes economic recovery. Australia is looking to invest in major infrastructure projects that have the opportunity to open up new jobs and employment opportunities. The project should ultimately boost Kiribati’s Human Development Index (HDI) score and achieve higher than 0.630, which, according to the Human Development Report, is the current HDI of Kiribati.
A new initiative!
With this already in place, I would like to propose the idea of another action to go forwards in Kiribati. With COVID 19 having long-lasting impacts on the smaller communities of Kiribati, economic instability is at an all-time high. This, of course, has had the largest impact on farmers. With the labour and income foundation farmers need to provide for the country crumbling beneath them, the need for support from third party institutions is larger than ever. To set out an awareness campaign regarding health and safety procedures that can keep farmers safe would be extremely beneficial and would be the first of many steps to recovering Kiribati’s lost wellbeing. With agricultural land being isolated and deserted, many communities have very limited if not no access to the trending information regarding COVID 19 and many other diseases spreading. The campaign would allow families to be aware and active. The initiative would inform communities about safe farming practices and would stop almost all of the spread of diseases that have been caused due to incorrect farming practices. The initiative would be cost-effective and has already seen astounding results in Papua New Guinea, seen as one of Australia’s development stories.
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Mitchell S
Mason’s blog post was a very information-filled post about Kiribati, talking about the troubles the small groups of islands went through during the Covid-19 outbreak. As well as how diseases don't only affect the people’s health, but when on small islands like Kiribati it stops everything on the island. The initiative that was proposed about how to help Kiribati stop the spread of disease through their farming was a great idea with some good strategies. To add to that even though I could see how you tried to make your initiative as cost-effective as possible I believe to make this initiative more effective would be to send over supplies to help make these practices as effective as possible. These supplies may be as small as bars of soap or hand sanitizer to wash hands with before handling food to stop the spread of germs and disease even more and raise the health and well-being of Kiribati. While reading through the “What’s being done to help?” paragraph you mentioned two organizations (The World health organization and Australia's developmental assistance plan) and then continued on about the 3 pillars. Are there 3 pillars part of the one organization or just the one? A very solid blog with lots of insightful information about Kiribati’s current well-being situation.
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Aarez Khattak
Mason, your presentation of Kiribati is very helpful and enlightening towards the true state of this beautiful country. You explained the problems that the Kiribati people have to go through as well as Covid-19 on top of the whole situation. What I found interesting was that even though the literacy rate was 93% in 2020 there are minimum higher education options available for Kiribati’s citizens. The three pillar program I think would be quite beneficial in fast tracking Kiribati to a stable state of peace and economic growth. The initiative that you proposed would be crucial in bringing Kiribati to a stable ground and then from there you have said it would be self-sustaining which would be fundamental to help Kiribati improve in multiple areas. Your initiative would also play a huge role in the three stage program, this would help with health and safety, general stability and economic growth with one initiative. I think if you were able to generate extra funds through this program, or even get extra funds during the starting period, you may be able to create an initiative which helps with safe and clean drinking water which partnered with your own initiative would be exponentially helpful for the people of Kiribati. One question I have for you is how are you going to raise awareness for health and safety procedures, through volunteers? Or did you have something else in mind? Overall I enjoyed your presentation of Kiribati and have learned a lot about this beautiful country.
Small Islands... Big Problems...
Small Islands... Big Problems...
Written by: Raphael N
Five key statistics for Kiribati:
Kiribati’s GDP 199.6 million USD 2020
In 2019 Kiribati HDI (Human Development Index) was 0.630.
HPI 12.6
GNI (gross national Income) Kiribati 507.9 million PPP dollars (2020)
Life expectancy 68.93 years (2022)
From the statistics above you can gather their level of wellbeing by comparing some of their statistics to other countries. Kiribati is 4.05 behind the world average life expectancy. In 2017 Kiribati scored 189th out of 190 for its GDP and in 2019 its HDI was put at 134 out of 189 putting the country in the medium human development category. From comparing three of the five key statistics we can conclude that the wellbeing level of Kiribati is low.
ChildFund Kiribati is an NGO that strives to protect Kiribati children/youth from Violence and Exploitation allowing them to thrive. ChildFund Kiribati runs a building blocks program to help out-of-school youth giving them a chance to have at least a basic understanding of reading, writing and maths. They also offer a bridging program, a partnership with the Kiribati Institute of Technology (KIT) giving young people the technical skills required for higher courses in KIT. According to Childfund Kiribati 2021 annual report they raised 7.5 million life-changing initiatives in health and nutrition, education, livelihoods, child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene and disaster risk reduction. Childfund Kiribati also kicked off a 11.2 million NZD five-year IMPACT programme with Aotearoa New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
My proposal for helping Kiribati’s well being would be reducing infant mortality by raising money for medication and medical technology. In 2020 Kiribati’s under 5 mortality rate was 46.9 deaths per 1000 live births, compared to Australia's 3.7 deaths per 1000 live births. My initiative would provide aid to stop common infant deaths such as malnutrition, lower respiratory infections and diarrhoea; this could be done by providing medications like antibiotics and medical advice. Reducing infant mortality for Kiribati will help the country's well being as it would improve its HDI and would raise the life expectancy.
Bibliography
Allan Tisdell, C., 2022. Values of HDI and HPI for Least Developed Pacific Island Nations. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Values-of-HDI-and-HPI-for-Least-Developed-Pacific-Island-Nations_tbl1_241420695> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
ChildFund Kiribati — Helping children and youth to thrive!. 2022. ChildFund Kiribati — Helping children and youth to thrive!. [online] Available at: <https://childfund.org.ki/> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
UNICEF DATA. 2022. Kiribati (KIR) - Demographics, Health & Infant Mortality - UNICEF DATA. [online] Available at: <https://data.unicef.org/country/kir/> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Unknown, 2022. GDP by Country - Worldometer. [online] Worldometers.info. Available at: <https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-by-country/> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Unknown, 2022. Kiribati - Place Explorer - Data Commons. [online] Datacommons.org. Available at: <https://datacommons.org/place/country/KIR?utm_medium=explore&mprop=amount&popt=EconomicActivity&cpv=activitySource%2CGrossDomesticProduction&hl=en> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Unknown, 2022. Kiribati Life Expectancy 1950-2022. [online] Macrotrends.net. Available at: <https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/KIR/kiribati/life-expectancy#:~:text=The%20current%20life%20expectancy%20for,a%200.35%25%20increase%20from%202019.> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Unknown, 2022. Kiribati: Tracking Progress in Maternal and Child Survival. [ebook] WHO/UNICEF, pp.11,12. Available at: <https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/831/file/Kiribati.pdf.pdf> [Accessed 5 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: TOBY NOWICKI
The information in your report was very good and provided clear insight into your country. However it might be better if the statistics were included as part of a paragraph. Maybe add a section that provides a little more background information into your country with information about where the country is. In the statistics some of them are from 2017, are there any more current statistics? However the statistics that you have gathered are good and relevant to the topic. They provide a clear insight into the wellbeing of Kiribati and why it’s wellbeing is so low. I like how you talked about the non government organisation that improves wellbeing, it is informative and concise. However, is there any more information about the organisation that could inform the reader? Your idea of a way to improve the wellbeing of your country was a clever and insightful way of doing so. Is there any more information that you could have given about your idea to improve well being though? Overall you have a very good report on your country that is clear, insightful and thought provoking.
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Yasmin Alexander
This report provided an insight to the wellbeing of Kiribati. The statistics are well chosen and show a clear insight of Kiribati’s poor wellbeing. It is evident that the majority of Kiribati lack the basic necessities to live a comfortable life, making Kiribati’s wellbeing worse. Your chosen NGO, ChildFund Kiribati, appears to be doing things that increase the wellbeing of people by improving health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and many more aspects. It is interesting that ChildFund Kiribati works with Kiribati Institute of Technology to provide young people with technical skills to lead to higher courses.
The initiative proposed by Raphael to help reduce infant mortality rates was a good idea. It is sad to know that the mortality rate for children 5 and under is 46.9 deaths per 1000 births. With your initiative, what further health assistance is provided to the children and their parents once they are no longer infants? Do you provide ongoing health care education for the parents so they are better able to look after their children so they can live long healthy lives and to help take care of their children when they are sick?
Kiribati: Wellbeing of a Drowning Population
Kiribati: Wellbeing of a Drowning Population
Written by: Ella S
Kiribati Is a small island country in the south pacific ocean, It's composed of 32 small atolls with a total land area of 811 square kilometres. There are several different areas of Kiribati's welfare that Im going to be exploring In the following sections.
Population
The population of Kiribati as of 2020 is 119,446 with an age distribution of 35.92% ages 0-14, 59.87% ages 15-64, and 4.22% ages 65+. (See figure 1)
GDP
GDP per capita: 1,670.82 USD (2020). Kiribati has the lowest GDP out of all Oceania countries, This is partly a result of limited resources to export but mainly from phosphate deposits that were depleted in 1979. Their main export now Is the coconut product copra (used to make coconut oil).
Literacy Rate
The 2010 census determined the population's ability to read and write in either the language of Kiribati (Gilbertese), English or another language. It found that an estimated 97.7% of the population could read and write. Interestingly, The female rate was found higher than the male rate in ages between teenage and 30 (6% higher).
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy at birth as of 2016 is 68 years. (Kiribati: Statistics, 2022) The healthcare In Kiribati is lacking, to say the least, it has only 4 hospitals across the country, 30 health centres and 75 clinics scattered among the islands (Brinsley, 2022).
Unfortunately, Kiribati has quite a high infant mortality rate at 40.1 deaths per 1,000 live births this is again largely a result of the lacking facilities but also low-quality healthcare. However, there are several NGOs improving health and wellbeing through programs and funded projects.
Climate Change Effects
Kiribati Is an extremely low country with most of the country below 2m and the highest point (a volcanic island) 81m above sea level. The quickly rising sea levels are one of their biggest threats now. It experiences not only flooding but water contamination, crop deaths and homes flooded. Already 2 uninhabited islands, one of which was used by fishermen, have been submerged by the sea.
Kiribati has suggested several options for a solution examples include, an oil rig type platform that sits above the ocean this was ruled out because the project was estimated to cost an enormous 2 billion dollars, additionally mangroves were planted to discourage soil erosion. The government has also purchased land in Fiji to grow crops and potentially evacuate the population too. So far only New Zealand has responded to their protests and is allowing up to 75 people to migrate each year. With Kiribati only contributing 0.6% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions you can see why they want help from other countries In finding a solution.
Who is helping?
The Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International has been working with Kiribati for over 20 years they work with other NGOs' to provide education in health, sanitation, teaching locals to cook produce and most Importantly help them access clean water and health improvements.
Healthcare has greatly Improved, and the number of people affected by significant health Issues (tobacco usage, infant mortality rate, etc.) has steadily decreased over the past years. Life expectancy has risen from 60 to 66 years between 1990 and 2015.
What else can we do?
While healthcare is improving that will be completely useless if there is no land for the people. My proposition Is that we raise the height of the islands and therefore give more space for Kiribati to grow crops, build adequate housing, and gain land back. This will ensure that all the steps Kiribati is taking to be a better country and Improve their quality of life and wellbeing don’t go to waste. The idea would be to build up terrain levels until flooding and sea level rising are no longer as big of a problem, with climate problems subdued Kiribati can focus on improving their wellbeing, solving food shortages, and fulfilling the needs of the people. This would take time and resources but in the end, I truly believe this would benefit them greatly.
Figure 1
Bibliography:
Brinsley, S., 2022. Healthcare in Kiribati is Steadily Improving - The Borgen Project. [online] The Borgen Project. Available at: https://borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-kiribati/ [Accessed 3 June 2022].
Unknown, Data.worldbank.org. 2022. Kiribati | Data. [online] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/country/kiribati?view=chart. [Accessed 1 June 2022].
Unknown, Globaledge.msu.edu. 2022. Kiribati: Statistics. [online] GlobalEDGE. Available at: https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/kiribati/statistics [Accessed 2 June 2022].
Unknown, Heritage.org. 2022. Kiribati Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. [online] Available at: <https://www.heritage.org/index/country/kiribati> [Accessed 2 June 2022].
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Zahlia S
Ella has given an insightful and meaningful look into Kiribati and the levels of well-being experienced throughout Kiribati. The saddening truth of Kiribati’s islands slowly flooding has been well spoken about and in much detail, really highlighting how serious this issue currently is. A point Ella talked about that interested me was how Kiribati only makes up 0.6% of the world’s greenhouse gas’ yet few countries are willing to lend a helping hand. The Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International is doing a wonderful job at helping our Kiribati by lending them clean water, better healthcare, sanitation and more services, and have been seen making an impression on Kiribati’s wellbeing already. Ella’s initiative to raise the lands of Kiribati to stop the flooding caused by global warming is a fantastic idea, and although pricy and time consuming, in the long run, will greatly improve all aspects of wellbeing in Kiribati. I think raising the lands should be a big focus in Kiribati to help improve their quality of life, but I wonder where the citizens would go whilst the development is being made and for how long would they have to be relocated from their homes?
Kiribati: A Wellbeing Deep Dive
Kiribati: A Wellbeing Deep Dive
Written by: Emily S
About Kiribati
Kiribati is an island country located in Oceania consisting of 33 islands of which 20 are inhabited. The correct way of pronouncing Kiribati is Ki - ri - bas, the ‘ti’ pronounced as /s/. The national language of Kiribati is Gilbertese, also known as Kiribati, and English, with Nauru, Tuvalu and Tokelau also speaking this language (but not as their official language like Kiribati).
Kiribati is home to many atolls, which are circular or horseshoe shaped coral reefs, coconut plantations and fish farms. Even with all of the food production, Kiribati still needs to get imports from many other different countries, Australia being one of their biggest importers.
Approximately 120,000 people live in Kiribati, however, it is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, and it is being threatened to disappear because of climate change. Kiribati also has a problem with pollution, causing the many beaches in Kiribati to be contaminated with rubbish, and the waterways to be polluted.
Kiribati Wellbeing and Statistics
The people of Kiribati have already started losing their homes due to the dramatic increase of storms and tropical cyclones due to climate change, this also bringing in an intrusion of saltwater and infesting their water supply. They now heavily rely on rainfall and imports for fresh water. However, because of the lack of rain and hot weather, their water sources are depleting, which is slowly exhausting and dramatically impacting their human wellbeing and agricultural activity.
According to statistics, Kiribati is pretty low on the HDI (Human Development Index) levels, ranking 134 out of all the countries and their GDP (Gross domestic product) is very low compared to the other big countries, sitting at around 1.6k USD since 2020, it is constantly staggering. Infant mortality rate is also a lot higher than other bigger countries, at 4%, in fact it's around a whopping 3% higher. However, fertility rates are a lot higher to combat the infant mortality rate, sitting at around 3.5 per person, but it’s slowly declining. Life expectancy is roughly around the same as Russia’s, sitting at around 70 years of age.
All in all, Kiribati’s wellbeing is still a lot lower than other countries considering the fact that climate change is changing a lot of the ways they’re living drastically and is impacting them in a way that’d take a long time to recover. However, there are some charities that help less fortunate countries like Kiribati, ICAAD is one of the many charities that help support Kiribati.
ICAAD is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human rights. They create programs that help to fight structural discrimination like gender inequality, youth and climate justice and the protection of asylees. They use methods such as bringing communities together, whether in schools or the local community, law firms and legal clinics, they even use artists to create artworks to advertise their cause.
ICAAD helps Kiribati quite a fair bit in terms of climate displacement, which is when people have moved inside of their own country to get away from the increasing (or decreasing) climate. It typically displaces the people across borders, in which case, it is almost impossible for Kiribati. ICAAD is working together with KiriCAN (Kiribati Climate Action Network) to spread awareness about the increase of climate change and hopes to safeguard countries like Kiribati and Fiji.
However, these charities aren’t exactly reaching the spread that they hope to reach. I would like to propose a different approach to spreading awareness about climate change. Instead of trying to reach out to people on the news, instead try to promote it where younger people would see, like talks at school, or something like what the year 10’s are doing at the moment. It’d instead reach younger people who will command the future and they will become more knowledgable in this subject to be able to fight against climate change, or even problems like social and gender inequality.
In the end, Kiribati is a small island sitting close to Australia, and is currently being threatened by climate change and is on the brink of disappearing. If there is no action being taken, then small islands like Kiribati will cease to exist. Action must be taken if we wish for future generations to experience having islands like these in the future, otherwise, they’ll end up under the same title as other extinct things, where we can only see in textbooks and the internet.
Bibliography:
Author unknown. 2022. Kiribati speaking countries. Available at: https://www.worlddata.info/languages/kiribati.php Accessed 23 May 2022.
Foster S. 2021. Kiribati. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Kiribati Accessed 23 May 2022.
Author Unknown. n.d. Kiribati (statistics). Available at: https://datacommons.org/place/country/KIR?utm_medium=explore&mprop=amount&popt=EconomicActivity&cpv=activitySource%2CGrossDomesticProduction&hl=en Accessed 23 May 2022.
Siddle J. 2014. Kiribati: Tiny island’s struggle with overpopulation. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26017336 Accessed 26 May 2022.
The World Bank Editors. 2011. Kiribati: Pushing Against the Tide. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2011/10/26/kiribati-pushing-against-the-tide Accessed 26 May 2022.
Countrymeters Editors. 2022. Kiribati Population. Available at: https://countrymeters.info/en/Kiribati Accessed 26 May 2022.
ProjectWorldImpact Editors. n.d. Kiribati (NGO’s). Available at: https://projectworldimpact.com/country/kiribati Accessed 26 May
ICAAD Editors. n.d. ICAAD. Available at: https://icaad.ngo/ Accessed 31 May 2022.
KiriCAN Editors. n.d. The Kiribati Climate Action Network. Available at: https://kirican.wordpress.com/ Accessed 31 May 2022
Constructive Comment 1
Constructive Comment 1
Written by: Vishnupriya S
Emily, I found your blog post very engaging and well researched. I found the background information particularly interesting, as well as learning the correct pronunciation of Kiribati. I like how you focused your proposed initiative on raising awareness amongst the future generations, which has proven very effective. Your conclusion was very well written and insightful in addressing the importance of fighting climate change in Kiribati. Your chosen NGO, called ICAAD, seems to be very effective in advocating for human rights. To extend your research on your NGO, you could include some statistics, for example, the number of people they have aided. This Government Organisation (GO) called Kiribati Adaptation Program (KAP) outlines how they implement solutions such as planting mangroves, managing water sources etc., to fight climate change. This information may be helpful for you to include in your proposed initiative. To expand on your research, you could incorporate a few figures (e.g. graphs) to demonstrate links regarding climate change, pollution etc. After reading this, I have a question: What measures are currently being placed in Kiribati to address issues such as climate change and pollution?
Constructive Comment 2
Constructive Comment 2
Written by: Ella S
Emilys' blog post was incredibly informative and thorough, the information about the pollution issues on Kiribati's beaches and waterways was particularly interesting, additionally, I found your ideas on improvement to be quite intriguing as I wouldn't have thought about informing younger generations on the multitude of issues that are happening on Kiribati. I liked your information on ICAAD and how they help with displacement, climate issues, etc. they do incredibly significant things for the wellbeing of Kiribati. Overall your post was well written and your ideas were conveyed clearly and well researched, you highlighted the many issues and problems that Kiribati has and revealed the extent of each one and how people are helping. Also building on your idea to inform younger generations I do think that a more rapid plan for improvement is also needed, Kiribati has such severe climate change issues that I think we need to take action quickly to ensure that Kiribati does not succumb to the rapidly growing list of issues they face. To conclude my comment I do have a few questions: What actions are in place to help the current issues such as pollution and climate change? How is ICAAD helping in the health-related issues such as infant mortality rates and life expectancy?
Constructive Comment 3
Constructive Comment 3
Written by: Rebekah M
Emily, your blog was presented in a very informative and engaging manner. Your title was engaging and the map you used was well detailed, clearly depicting Kiribati’s geographical location and highlighting the locations of each of the islands. The background information about Kiribati was engaging to read and helped me develop a more enhanced understanding of Kiribati’s location and features of the place. The information on Kiribati’s wellbeing was thoroughly presented with specific emphasis on the detrimental effects of climate change and how this damages homes and ultimately communities. The embedding of links throughout the text helped me to gain more insight into the well-being statistics of Kiribati.
To enhance well-being in Kiribati, there should be more emphasis on improving its HDI by focusing on implementing quality education systems for the community. It seems to be a place that is heavily reliant on the ocean for its resources and food sources. Climate change is a significant issue so overfishing needs to decrease and there needs to be alternative food sources such as increased vegetation so that the marine ecosystem can thrive and revive as the species heals and restores.
A question I have is what factors have influenced life expectancy increase and what other actions can be taken towards reducing climate change apart from raising awareness?
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