December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
KEY MESSAGES
A Small Island State of 33 atolls spanning 3.5 million square kilometers of ocean, Kiribati is faced with a number of development challenges, including climate change. While rated as one of the poorest countries in the Pacific, there has been remarkable progress since 2014. Increasing employment opportunities in the public and private sector have been complimented by increases in overseas worker schemes, but unemployment is still high. However, economic progress relies heavily on the continued performance of the national fishery, which can be volatile and is also under threat from climate change.
Recent years have seen significant advances in school enrolment rates, basic literacy, and numeracy, particularly for girls and young women. There have also been improvements in universal accessibility, despite the high costs of service delivery and limited capacity at tertiary institutions.
Kiribati’s health challenges are stark: under 5 and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in the Pacific; malnutrition is a common issue; non-communicable disease prevalence is high; water issues are acute; and Tuberculosis is persistent.
Gender-based violence and wider gender issues are a key social and economic issue.
Climate change is a serious challenge for Kiribati, affecting almost every facet of daily life. From acute water shortages, tidal inundation, seawater intrusion, and heat and storm events, Kiribati risks reversing recent development gains through climate events and ongoing impacts. There are significant capital works underway in transport, water, power, sanitation, coastal protection and food security, but the pace of climate change threatens to outpace these measures. Importantly, climate change has the potential to disrupt the largest economic resource available to Kiribati – the tuna fishery – through anticipated impacts on tuna migration and spawning patterns across the Pacific.
The SDGs in Kiribati
Following the launch of the SDGs in September 2015, the Government issued the preliminary indicators to all government agencies, community groups, development partners and private sector organisations. This led to the formation of the Kiribati Development Plan (KDP) 2016-19 and a national set of indicators.
In addition to the four-yearly national plan, the Kiribati Government also has a 20-year vision for the development of a wealthy, healthy, and peaceful nation. Covering the period out to 2036, the Kiribati Vision 20 (or KV20) is designed around the enabling environment and social benefits from the key economic sectors of tourism and fisheries.
As the KDP broadly aligns to the 2030 Agenda, the integration the Mid-Term Review of the KDP with the Voluntary National Review (VNR) aims to assess national goals alongside international and regional commitments in a single report.
The Process for the Review
The Development Coordination Committee (DCC) is the main governing body that coordinates and reports on all development activity in Kiribati including the review of the KDP.
Following the appointment of a special SDG Taskforce from among DCC members, an intensive consultation period commenced with all stakeholders. Each partner was educated on the importance of the SDGs, data collection, and the timeline for the Review. Stakeholder consultations identified issues with capacity constraints; competing priorities; limited stakeholder engagement; lack of alignment between the national, regional and global indicator sets; insufficient resources; lack of baseline data; and poor capacity to collect and analyze data.
The Review of the KV20, KDP and SDG indicators highlighted several areas of indicator fragmentation and poor data collection. In particular, some global, regional, and even national indicators are currently beyond the capability of Kiribati to effectively measure and report on.
Stakeholders verified what data was available and reviewed the final report prior to it being tabled with the High-Level Political Forum.
Outcomes of the Review
Follow the Review, national goals and indicators will be realigned for the second half of the four-year term of the KDP. Together with the developing framework for the KV20, there is substantial scope to further reduce fragmentation. Time and resource constraints during the Review also meant coverage of the outer islands has been limited – future reviews should aim to provide better coverage of both urban and rural Kiribati, leaving no one behind.
Kiribati continues to face limited institutional and financial capacity to effectively monitor and implement the SDGs. Continued support by development partners is important and valued, especially in light of the potential graduation of Kiribati from least developed country status. To this end, Kiribati extends the invitation to donor partners to continue their support towards achieving the SDGs.
| Report | Topics covered | Process |
 Kiribati - National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaption
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The project through partnership will promote and increase access to modern, cleaner and more affordable sources of energy for cooking in Kiribati, Tuvalu and RMI. The heavy reliance on fuel wood for cooking have made its mark in the coral atolls like Kiribati, RMI and Tuvalu where the rapidly declining supply have forced people to use kerosene. The use of fuel wood and kerosene for cooking is both an environmental problem in terms of the unsustainable cutting of trees and emissions and a health hazard to women and children mostly
AFPPD in partnership with IPPF and Pacific Parliaments has trialled a post election module in Building Capacity of Pacific Island Parliamentarians to Advocate for ICPD and SRHR in Tonga and Cook Islands Parliaments. We also provide opportunities to build advocacy and knowledge skills of parliamentarians, including processes to enable them to work with CSOs. This partnership is effective in enhancing social protection and inclusion, improving well being, and guaranteeing opportunities for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, by focusing parliamentarians on their roles within their national pa...[more]
The Pacific is home to one third of the 52 Small Island Developing States in the world. With the exception of PNG, the rest of the Pacific SIDS are constrained by small administrations and limited economies of scale. Despite universal support for the MDGs, MSI and the high per capita ODA in the Pacific, the region is off track in achieving most of the MDGs by 2015 . Recognising this, the Pacific Isalands Forum Leaders in 2009 agreed to the (Cairns) Forum Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination. The Compact comprises various initiatives including: i) annual Millennium Development G...[more]
The objective of the J-PRISM Partnership is two-fold, firstly to strengthen and develop national waste management systems and human capacity in Pacific SIDS through partnership with Pacific SIDS, SPREP and the Government of Japan; and secondly to promote the regional sharing of knowledge and expertise and encourage the eventual uptake of good waste management practices in Pacific SIDS.Good waste management is a vital component of national sustainable development, since poorly managed waste has negative impacts on areas such as public health, environment, and tourism. By strengthening the syste...[more]
The partnership between Kiribati, New Zealand and South Pacific Marine Services (SPMS) has seen the Kiribati Marine Training Centre (MTC) become a world class marine training institution. It makes a significant contribution to economic and social development in Kiribati and the broader region. The MTC was established in 1967. It provides training for ratings (trainees) to work in deck and engineering positions on international ships. It has the distinction of being the only institution in the Pacific to achieve White List status under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, thus facilitating futu...[more]
The Republic of Kiribati and its people declared all its waters a shark sanctuary in 2015, a move demonstrating the strong commitment towards the implementation of SDG 14. The sanctuary ensures conservation of sharks to protect and balance the marine ecosystem, including commercially important fish species and the health of marine habitats such as coral reefs. The shark sanctuary aims to sustain and develop Kiribatis economy from shark and marine related eco-tourism, in light of its 20 year vision focusing on fisheries and tourism. This reservation provides a source of income that will ease pr...[more]
IRENA has developed the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative to support the strategic deployment of renewable energy in SIDS, to bring clarity to policy makers regarding the required steps, and to enable targeted action. As a joint effort of SIDS and development partners, this framework for action will assist in transforming SIDS energy systems through the establishment of the enabling conditions for a renewable energy-based future, by moving away from developing projects in isolation to a holistic approach that considers all relevant elements spanning from policy and market frameworks, through technol...[more]
Noumea Communique2nd Oceania 21 ConferenceNoumea, 2 July 20141. The 2nd Oceania 21 Conference (Oceania 21), organised by the New Caledonian Government, with the support of France, and was chaired in turn by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Vanuatu, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu and the President of the Marshall Islands, currently Chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum.
The network enables effective knowledge sharing and advocacy on the practical application of Integrated Water Resources Management approaches to address key water resource, catchment and coastal management challenges in Pacific Island Countries
Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting is a summit-level meeting which has been held every three years since 1997. Leaders openly discuss various issues that Pacific Island Countries(PICs) are facing in order to build close cooperative relationships and forge a bond of friendship between Japan and PICs. The 7th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM7) was held in Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan, on 22 and 23 May, 2015. At this summit, under the slogan of "We are Islanders - Commitment to the Pacific from Iwaki,
The Partnership will support Pacific SIDS in meeting their obligations to implement and effectively enforce global, regional and sub-regional arrangements for the conservation and management of transboundary oceanic fisheries thereby increasing sustainable benefits derived from these fisheries
The partnership will facilitate improved knowledge sharing and advocacy between drought-affected Pacific SIDS, relevant development partners, regional and international organisations. It will facilitate the practical sharing of information on water security and drought resilience/preparedness activities undertaken in drought-affected countries, and enable an effective voice of drought-affected atoll nations in international and regional forums.The partnership will support Pacific governments and communities to build the skills, systems and basic infrastructure to better anticipate, respond t...[more]
The Pacific Islands Development Forum is partnering with PIDF Member Countries (including Fiji, Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) and Solar Head of State to facilitate the installation of solar energy infrastructure to power residences of heads of state of eleven PIDF member countries and the PIDF Headquarters to promote renewable energy in the Pacific This project will be a symbolic statement of intent by the governments, and also a test project to encourage more future grid-connected solar projects on the...[more]
The goal of the Pacific Islands National Priorities Multi-Focal Area ‘Ridge-to-Reef’ (R2R) program is to maintain and enhance Pacific Island countries’ ecosystem goods and services (provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural) through integrated approaches to land, water, forest, biodiversity and coastal resource management that contribute to poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience. This goal will be achieved through a series of national multi-focal area R2R demonstration projects which will support and address national priorities and development needs whi...[more]
Meteorological training is enhanced in the Southwest Pacific.
Outcome 1: Child Protection Systems (including Justice and Police, child and family social services, health and education and communities) provide improved quality of and access to services for the prevention of and response to violence, abuse and exploitation of children at all times.Outcome 2 Parents, caregivers, and children demonstrate skills, knowledge and behavior enabling children to grow up in caring homes and communities, including schools that are free from violence, abuse and exploitation.
To support Ministries of Education and other Institutions to provide quality and comprehensive approaches to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education at primary and secondary school levels.The program will contribute to the development of future Pacific Island leaders who are sensitized to the issues of SRH and gender equality.
There has emerged in recent years the prioritization of sustainable production and consumption patters as a key driver of sustainable development. There has also emerged during the preparations of the SIDS Conference and the Post-2015 Development Agenda recognition of culture as an enabler of sustainable development with the usage of phrases such as "culture of sustainable living". The Pacific has also recognized the critical importance of spirituality and religion as key enablers of attitudes and living that is in tune with or based on inclusive and sustainable development principles. YWAM Sa...[more]
