The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an equatorial nation of 29 scattered coral atolls and five islands in the Central Pacific Ocean. There is incomplete analysis of hardship, but MDG monitoring indicates that basic needs poverty and hunger is rising. The young urban poor are among the most marginalised with dependence on the cash economy, but fewer social welfare protections.136 The challenges facing outer island communities include water shortages, lack of transport, and reduced access to electricity, telecommunications, and basic services.
RMI is a former Trust Territory of the Pacific under United States Administration. Since 1986, the relationship between the two countries has been defined by the Compact of Free Association whereby the U.S. provides annual payments and defence in exchange for continued U.S. military use of the Kwajalein Atoll. The legacy of U.S nuclear testing in RMI has adversely affected human security, public health, and environmental safety and caused the loss of customary land and cultural heritage.
RMI is highly urbanised with 75 per cent of the country’s 53,000 people137 resident in the two urban centres the capital Majuro and Ebeye, the most densely populated island in the Pacific. RMI’s rapid population growth and the contamination of its natural environment have made subsistence farming and fishing unviable for the vast majority of Marshallese.138 Urbanisation is placing stress on land and water and increasing the demand for housing, classrooms, energy, and waste management. A high natural population increase of 2.4 per cent per annum is offset by net emigration of Marshallese to the US.
Despite having one of the highest per capita spending rates of donor aid, development assistance has not equated to socioeconomic benefits for the most vulnerable. Since the reduction in grants after the Amended US Compact, the economy has performed weakly. Physical isolation, weak institutions, and the lack of economic diversity forecast low growth in the medium term. A fiscal deficit is anticipated once the Compact ends in 2023 with further reductions in public service anticipated.
RMI’s economy is not generating the growth required to absorb its young people into the labour market.
Children make up almost half of the population and significant gains have been made in reducing child and infant mortality. Ninety per cent of children attend primary school with gender parity achieved. Special education programming has been introduced for children with disabilities. Education quality is a concern with only 9 per cent of students graduating from primary school with age appropriate mathematics proficiency. School completion rates are low.139 Immunisation coverage is less than 50 per cent on some islands and rural children are three times less likely to be fully immunised than urban children.140
Marshallese culture is matrilineal with an established social protection system based on access to land, cooperative labour, social obligations, and reciprocity. Studies indicate a decline in family values and erosion of traditional safety nets leading to an increase in violence, particularly towards women.141 More than half of the women surveyed indicated they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.142 There are few if any services specifically for women in outer islands. Rural adolescents in RMI continue to have the highest pregnancy rate in the Pacific with low knowledge of contraceptive use.
Treaty Ratifications: CEDAW, CRC, CRPD, CCPWCNH, CWII, ICADS, CSICH
Resident and Non-resident Agencies: IOM, ILO, OHCHR, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNISDR, UNOCHA, UNV, UN Women, WHO
Coordination: RMI Joint Presence Office
National Strategic Plan 2015-2017 (NSP) – Republic of Marshall Islands – “In our hands, our future”
- 136MDG Tracking Report, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2012.
- 137RMI 2011 National Census.
- 138Population and Development Profiles: Pacific Island Countries, UNFPA, 2014
- 139Atlas of Indicators RMI, UNICEF, 2013
- 140ibid
- 141UNICEF Child Protection Baseline Research, RM
- 142National Study on Family Health and Safety, Republic of Marshall Islands Ministry of Internal Affairs and UNFPA, 2014.
| Alignment of country development priorities | |
| Identified Priorities 2018-2022 | |
| · Given the potential impact of climate change, environmental protection and climate change mitigation/adaptation remain key areas for support.
· Technical assistance supporting RMI to access climate change funding, including through the GCC, and to successfully implement related projects. · Increasing DRR support as weather-related disasters are increasing and becoming more prolonged. |
|
| · Gender Equality and Eliminating Violence Against Women – following the completion of a major study by UNFPA and RMI, there is solid baseline
data to demonstrate how significant the gender issues are in RMI. The findings of the study have not yet been shared widely in RMI, but this should be prioritised. There are many local NGOs with potential for joint/expanded programmes. |
|
| · UN could support national policies and plans to implement at local level especially in outer islands.
· Many local communities do not have strategic plans and are not linked in with national priorities or SDGs. UN could support this work. · Urban planning, particularly in Ebeye, requires UN technical assistance. · Job creation and SME development with a focus on youth, especially in the outer islands · Tourism development · Training, expertise, and funding to grow the copra industry as a key income source for the outer islands · Technical assistance and training focussed on human resource development (skills, trade training, etc.), knowledge transfer, and building local capacity · Assistance to diversify income sources ahead of the conclusion of the compact and help to ensure the benefits of economic growth trickle down to all Marshallese. |
|
| · Family health – with a specific focus on women and girls in the outer islands.
· Increased support to clinical health activities. · UN to be an advocate for RMI around the enduring health and environmental effects of RMI’s nuclear legacy. |
|
| · Increase focus on good governance, strengthened institutions, and human resources as the benefits from this work will flow into other areas. | |
