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p. 5 of 6 BACK | NEXT Introduction Is Hardship Really a Problem in Vanuatu? What is Hardship? Who is Facing Hardship? What Causes Hardship? What Can Be Done?

Priorities of the People: Hardship in Vanuatu

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What Causes Hardship?

Hardship is a complex problem with many different causes. Overall, the people consulted said hardship is caused by limited opportunities to earn money, obtain education of affordable and effective rural training and job skills, and access health and other basic services. Specific causes were cited for three especially affected groups: children, the youth, and women.

Children

Limited and decreasing access to education was the most common hardship affecting children, particularly those who live in rural areas. People said most children walk long distances (5 km or 2 hours daily) to the nearest school. The bush path can be dangerous when heavy rains flood the river crossings. Distance and affordability increase drop-out rates, while some children are “pushed-out” of the school system when there are too few schools.

Poor access to health services was cited as another concern for children, particularly those in rural areas and outer islands. Most common illnesses were treated by local village healers due to lack of transport to reach the nearest dispensary or hospital. In some areas, people had to walk at least 4 hours to get to the nearest health center, which may not have the medicines needed to treat their children.

Abandonment or placement for adoption of young children by their parents is an emerging trend in both rural and urban areas. Traditionally, these children were left in the care of relatives, usually grandparents, by young parents who were either unmarried, divorced, or had too many children.

Lastly, most communities consulted said children in the rural 34% areas are suffering from poor nutrition due to parents’ low levels of awareness. Meals are almost always prepared with too many carbohydrates and very little protein and vegetables.

Youth

Inability to continue schooling, especially to the secondary level, and poor trade skills for youths who have dropped out or been “pushed out” from the educational system were the most commonly mentioned causes of hardship among the youth. Some mentioned the very limited number of affordable and effective rural training centers as another cause. Most youth who cannot continue their studies go back to their villages without hope of receiving further education or training to get better jobs. Those in the rural areas end up either in subsistence farming, marrying early, or migrating to towns in search of unskilled jobs. Meanwhile, youth in the urban areas stay in the settlements and spierim pablik rod (walk aimlessly around town the whole day).

Lastly, weak leadership and poor organization for expressing youth concerns were also cited as reasons why there is a lack of effective youth programs and projects.

Women

Single parenthood, unplanned pregnancies, and domestic violence were the most commonly identified hardships among women. Communities consulted stated that an increasing number of young women were giving birth at an early age and most are not married. They attributed this to insufficient information on family planning due to the absence of qualified personnel and limited availability of contraceptives, as well as cultural taboos inhibiting discussion of reproductive health.

In the case of married women, people consulted said that a considerable number of husbands leave the main responsibility of providing for the family’s needs to their wives. This includes tending the garden, selling the produce, preparing the food, and doing most domestic chores while the husbands drink kava. Thus, women’s concerns about access to basic services such as education, health, credit, and market facilities were closely related to their role as household income earners and subsistence providers. Women use the money they earn from selling produce to pay for food, children’s school fees, and medical needs of their families.

However, most communities consulted said that in family situations, joint decision-making by the husband and wife was increasingly the common practice. These include joint decisions on how to spend money, such as how much to allocate for school fees and medical fees, and the number of children to have.

Women consulted said that physical abuse suffered by wives from their husbands was a normal part of married life. In some cases, they claimed it had resulted in death.

Women asked for skills training to organize and unify themselves as a group to prevent their exclusion from community activities, raise awareness on women’s issues, reduce vulnerability to domestic violence, and improve their access to services and facilities such as education, training, marketing, and credit through representation.

Poor Service Delivery

The people consulted stated that the lack, or poor quality, of services has significantly contributed to hardship in the communities while parents while parents while parents while parents while parents (see Figure 3). They said the government’s lack of commitment to prioritize delivery of these basic services was the primary reason for this, making life more difficult for most rural and urban communities.

Most basic services were available in the urban areas and/or provincial centers but limited or not available particularly in the remotest rural areas and outer island communities. Improvements in the delivery of basic services were mentioned by some people, but others expressed frustration with the lack of water supply, farm-to-market roads, markets, formal education and training, and health facilities.

Health. Eight of the 12 communities consulted said they have access to health facilities. However, they said these facilities, particularly in the rural areas, were either understaffed, lacked a regular supply of medicines, and/or were located far from the community. Sick patients have to travel by boat or walk an average of 5 km or more, climb steep mountains, and/or cross rivers to reach the nearest hospital or dispensary. Since most roads are in poor condition, transportation charges are very expensive for most people. To cope, most people rely on traditional medicines to treat common illnesses and only bring people to the health center or hospital when they are extremely sick.

Transport. People in 8 out of 12 sample communities said they have access to transport services, but they are usually expensive and the schedules irregular due to bad road conditions. Rural communities rely heavily on private transport services to market their produce. The transport cost is about one third of their usual gross sales. Seven out of 12 communities had access to gravel or feeder roads. During the rainy season, they become either inaccessible or full of holes, making it very dangerous for most vehicles.

Water. Less than half of the sample communities said they had access to piped water supply. The others in both urban and rural areas still rely on collecting rainwater, rivers, and springs for drinking and domestic use. Most said they need to boil their drinking water. Those living in rural areas said they were satisfied with their sanitation facilities, which are mainly constructed out of bush materials. People in the urban areas were generally not satisfied with the sanitation facilities available to them—most people rely on a few flush toilets or bush and shrub areas.

Markets. Forty-two percent of the communities said they have access to markets for their products. These communities were located within urban centers or less than 30 minutes away by public transport. Those outside this radius found it difficult to market their produce and said often when they go to the market, they only sell half of their produce. People said it was very discouraging for farmers to plant more since it was difficult to receive substantial income from their produce due to the absence of local markets.

Power. Only 1 community out of 12 had access to electricity. Most still use kerosene lamps, coconut oil, dry coconut shells, and firewood to light their homes. People in a small number of communities said they use solar power for lighting. A significant issue raised by the communities was affordability. Although power lines were installed in Isini Village in Tanna, most households still use kerosene lamps since they can not afford the connection fees and other charges.

Communications. Half of the communities consulted had access to communication facilities, usu-ally a telephone situated in the middle of the village or in the town center. However, they said the telephone service was unrealiable, especially in the outer islands. During the assessment in Torba Province, the telephone lines throughout the province were not working for about two weeks, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the country. The provincial government relied on a teleradio at the Vanuatu National Bank to communicate outside the province.

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