Climate Change Impact and Structural Reforms in Kiribati slide image

Climate Change Impact and Structural Reforms in Kiribati

KIRIBATI GENDER EQUALITY IN KIRIBATI: ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROSPECTS¹ Kiribati has made significant progress in promoting gender equality in many aspects including in health indicators and access to education. However, gender inequalities in labor force participation, living standards, and legal equity persist. This paper illustrates how improvement in gender equality, including female legal equity, could help support growth. Policies to address gender gaps could include strengthening gender equality in the legal framework, introducing gender budgeting and fiscal policy reforms, and developing gender-disaggregated data collection for better monitoring. A. Context Gender Difference in Secondary Gross Enrollment Rate (In percentage point, 2020 or latest available data) 20 10 0 -10 1. In Kiribati, females fare better compared to their male peers in several human development indicators. Health outcomes are significantly better for females where they have much lower child mortality rates and are expected to live longer than men by about 8 years (Table 1). A similar picture could be observed in education attainment. While females and males have equal net enrollment rate at the primary school level, net enrollment rates of females are significantly higher than those of males in both lower and upper secondary schools. This phenomenon of higher education for females (in terms of secondary gross enrollment rate) is found to be similar in most Pacific Islands countries (text chart). Females also have better education outcomes, as shown by their lower share in reading or writing difficulty compared to their male peers.2 -20 Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Palau Tuvalu Nauru Fiji Marshall Islands Micronesia Vanuatu Sources: World Development Indicators; and IMF staff calculation. Samoa Kiribati Tonga Note: Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially correspond to the level of education shown. Gender difference is calculated as the difference between female and male ratios. Prepared by Lisa Kolovich (SPR) and Anh Thi Ngoc Nguyen (APD). 2 While efforts to improve attendance rate in higher education are necessary for both genders, male education needs to be better promoted. This could partially be done by eradicating the worst forms of child labor for boys, as it is estimated that 8.6 percent of boys aged 5-17 years old engaged in child labor in 2019, higher than a 5.5 percent of girls (ADB, 2021). In 2015, the government tackled the issue by amending the Employment and Industrial Relations Code with an increase the minimum working age, the abandon of worst forms of child labor, and requirements to register child employees. INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 31
View entire presentation