A Case Study of South Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati
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Women’s Social Status and Development in the Small Island State of Kiribati: A Case Study of South Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati by Lupe Lutelu Kofe Corcoran A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts Development Studies Program Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development and Governance (PIAS-DG) The University of the South Pacific Suva, Fiji May, 2006. ©Lupe L.K. Corcoran, 2006 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I, Lupe K. Corcoran, hereby declare this thesis is that of my own work except for those rightly acknowledged. I further declare to the best of my knowledge that the contents of this thesis have not been submitted for the award of any degree at any institution. Lupe Kofe. Corcoran May, 2006. i ABSTRACT Women’s social status and development in the developing world is a vital component that is of significance to development. In fact, women’s social status in the developing countries is far too low compared to world standards. However, in the urban areas women and gender issues are more focused today than ever before. The thesis examines the major roles of women in Kiribati society in general and explores the struggles that women face in urban areas, particularly in South Tarawa. The research has discovered three major issues if women are to be involved in the development of South Tarawa in Kiribati. Firstly, women’s social issues encompass all social aspects of women’s life by traditional norms which hinder their contribution to development. Secondly, their late entrance into formal education has resulted in their relative absence from all levels of decision making. Finally, the economic and political representation of women at all levels is very poor. At the same time, better representation would be significant to their development in the areas of concern. Therefore, these problems are to be addressed properly. It is vital particularly since as development continues, women are major players in the process, especially by providing a healthy, honest, efficient and effective work force. Development brings positive changes, which leads to progress and better living standards. However, in the case of South Tarawa development has brought about multiple problems to the urban dwellers, and especially to women. The increasing population of the urban areas has brought many problems, for example lack of clean drinking water, lack of proper housing, lack of sanitation and lack of proper dumping areas. These problems have a great impact on women, therefore hindering women’s development. Issues of women’s improvement require an effort by everyone, including the government, non-government organizations and private sector. Significantly, there is ii need to realize the importance of women’s contribution to the development of Kiribati as a whole. Therefore, development would be more meaningful to women when they are recognized and involved, despite traditional norms. There is a great need for adoption of sound policies for improving women’s status and development in Kiribati. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank all those who offered assistance in different forms while I tried to complete this piece of work. I wish to convey my great and sincere gratitude to all for their help. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge untiring and academic guidance provided by Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty, my supervisor. Thank you very much, for the advice and time you went through with me to complete this thesis. My sincere thanks to Dr. Mahendra Reddy and Professor Robbie Robertson of the Centre of Development Studies for their help and inspiration in completing this thesis. My sincere thanks also to Ms. Kesaia Paulo secretary, Centre of Development Studies and Salanieta Vakalala of the Postgraduate Affairs for their kind help and directions. I am indebted to all my colleagues who in one way or the other contributed to the completion of this piece of work, kam bati n raba and to all in the SSED Postgraduate Committee for providing financial support for conducting field work in South Tarawa. To undertake the research cost a lot, therefore with sincere gratitude I thank the Committee for without their considerate financial support this thesis would not have been completed. I wish to thank the respondents to the questionnaires because without their responses the survey would not have been possible. To the officials of Aia Maea Ainen Kiribati (AMAK) organization, namely Mrs. M. Riwata, the president for the women’s organization, Mrs. M Takanene, National Gender Officer, Mr. J. Collins the legal advisor and Ms M. Wilson the acting Women’s Development Officer for providing all the necessary information and documents. My sincere thanks to the officials at the Foundation for the People of the South Pacific (FSP) particularly, Ms. Komera Otea, project officer, and Ms. Erimeta Barako, project officer. To Mr. Borau Koina, Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; Mr. Batoromaio Kiritian, Examiner Analyst for the iv Centre of Development Unit, Ministry of Education; Mrs. Jenny K. Tonganibeia, Statistics Officer in the Ministry of Finance and Mrs. Tinaai Iuta, National Nutritionist, Ministry of Health, for their cooperation and help. I would also like to acknowledge the following people, for their edit expertise. Malo aupito Barbara Hau’ofa, from USP. Tekeinang Morimai and Pelenise Alofa kam bati n raba. And fafetai lava to Dr. Kuresa Tagai from Pacific Adventist University for your time. Kam bati n raba for your tolerance and patience. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge my family, especially my sister Mrs. Puasina Bott and husband Mr. Fred Bott, who in many ways contributed greatly by providing financial support for this study and also the encouragement to see it through to conclusion. Fakafetai lasi to my mother, Mrs. Seluia Fakaua, and members of my family, Talotalo Peniata and Ms. Watson Fakaua for their great support while conducting the survey in Tarawa, for without their assistance in providing for my needs this thesis would not have materialized. To my Solomon sister, Ms Selina Boso, for the encouragement and support that enabled me to complete this volume. Last but not the least my sincere thanks to my dear husband, John Corcoran for his prayers and financial support, patience and understanding to complete this piece of work, ko bati n raba for everything. Not forgetting my three sons, Smith Bryce Corcoran, Mark Angus Corcoran and Virgil Allan Corcoran for their patience, understanding and support in times when I did not have time to attend to their needs, thank you very much for being accommodating, I love you all. TO ALL KAM BATI N RABA. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ABSTRACT ii-iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv-v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi-viii LIST OF TABLE ix-x LIST OF FIGURE xi LIST OF PHOTO xi ABBREVIATION xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1-15 1.1 Background 1-10 1.1.1 Rationale 10 1.2 Objectives 11 1.3 Research Methodology 12 1.4 Significance of the study 13 1.5 Structure of Thesis 14-15 CHAPTER TWO: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 16-36 2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 Conceptual Framework and Literature Review 17-32 2.2.1 Status of Women in the South Pacific Countries 32-35 2.3 Conclusion 36 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 37-47 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Conceptual Context of Methodology 37-39 3.3 Research Design 39 3.3.1 Source of Data 40 3.3.2 Method of Data Collection 40 3.3.2.1 Questionnaires 40 3.3.3 Research Questions 41 3.3.4 Sampling 41 3.3.4.1 Household Coverage by Gender 42 3.3.5 Coding, Tabulation and Data 43 3.4 Study Area 43 3.5 Research Limitations 46 3.6 Conclusion 46 vi CHAPTER FOUR: KIRIBATI AND SOUTH TARAWA: A BACKGROUND 48-65 4.1 Introduction 48 4.2 Geography 49 4.3 Demography 50 4.4 Society and Culture 53 4.5 Social Development 56 4.5.1 Education 56-59 4.5.2 Health 59 4.5.2.1 Life Expectancy 59 4.6 Economy and Women’s Participation 60 4.7 Government Policy towards Welfare and Development of Women in Kiribati 63 4.8 Conclusion 64-65 CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 66-88 5.1 Introduction 66 5.2 Research Findings 66 5.2.1 The Women’s Social Status and Development in South Tarawa 67 5.2.1.1 Sex Imbalances 67 5.2.1.2 Marital Status 68 5.2.1.3 Type of family 70 5.2.1.4 Religion 72 5.2.1.5 Female-headed households in Urban Centres in South Tarawa 73 5.2.1.6 Educational Status of Women 74 5.2.1.7 Nutritional and Health Status 75 5.2.1.8 Violence against women 77 5.2.2 Women’s Economic Participation and Status in South Tarawa 80 5.2.2.1 Employment Status 80 5.2.2.2 Women’s Participation in the Urban Informal Sector in South Tarawa 81 5.2.2.3 Occupational Status of Women in South Tarawa 83 5.2.3 Political Participation of Women in Kiribati 86 5.3 Conclusion 87-88 vii CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOOMMENDATIONS 89-96 6.1 Research Findings 93 6.2 Recommendations 95 6.3 Implication of the Study 95 6.4 Future Research 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY 97-107 APPENDICES 108-116 APPENDIX A 109-113 APPENDIX B 114 APPENDIX C 115 APPENDIX D 116 viii LIST OF TABLE Table 1.1 Social Indicators in Selected Developing Regions, 2000. 5 Table 1.2 Basic Human Development Indicators for Selected Pacific Countries, 1999. 7 Table 2.1 Educational Development Indicators in selected countries of the South Pacific,1999.