Tonga

The Kingdom of Tonga is a Polynesian archipelago comprising 36 inhabited and 140 non-inhabited islands in the South Pacific. Tonga is a constitutional monarchy and is unique among Pacific nations for having maintained its independence from colonial powers. As a consequence, Tonga retains strong national customs, including traditional social hierarchies. Over the last decade the country has undergone historic reforms to become a modern democracy. Elections were first held in 2010.

Tonga is a lower middle-income country with reasonable health and education status. Progress has been made toward attaining the MDGs, particularly in achieving universal primary education (MDG 2) and ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG 7). There is still work to be done to reduce poverty, realise gender equality, and combat NCDs. Whilst absolute poverty is not known in Tonga, increasing numbers of people are living below the basic needs poverty line; most severely on the outer islands. This indicates growing inequality and worsening outcomes for the most vulnerable.¹⁶⁶

Tonga is predominantly rural with five administrative divisions: Tongatapu (home to the capital Nuku’alofa), Vava’u, Ha’apai, ‘Eua, and Ongo Niua. Seventy per cent of the country’s 106,000¹⁶⁷ live on the main island of Tongatapu and the remaining third are spread across 700,000 square kilometres. A very high fertility rate of 3.9 per cent is offset by extreme outmigration, leading to modest population growth of 0.3 per cent.¹⁶⁸ The movement of people from outer islands to urban areas, as well as high levels of emigration, and new waves of immigration, are changing the social dynamics of Tonga and in some instances undermining traditional support systems.¹⁶⁹

Tonga is reliant on external income through development assistance, loans, and overseas remittances from the large Tongan diaspora. The economy is dominated by the public sector with small amounts of private sector activity in construction, services, manufacturing, fisheries, forestry, and tourism. A large share of agricultural production is for subsistence and own production, engaging 60 per cent of the labour force¹⁷⁰ and providing almost 50 per cent of food consumption for the lowest decile ¹⁷¹. Most government services are funded by aid. Falling domestic revenue as a share of GDP indicates greater dependence on budget support in the short term.¹⁷² A large number of Tongans participate in seasonal employment schemes in New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, in Australia.

Tonga has a mixed record on promoting gender equality and has not ratified CEDAW. No women were elected in the 2010 elections, but a woman member was appointed under the executive powers of the king. Women’s work force participation is highest in the informal sector. Two of every three women report experiencing physical violence from someone other than their partner.¹⁷³ Ninety-eight per cent of births are attended by a skilled birth attendant.174

Tonga lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of dynamic geological activity. It is ranked the second most vulnerable country to natural hazards (after Vanuatu). In 2009 a tsunami inundated the Niua islands, killing nine people and causing an estimated US$10 million worth of damage to housing and infrastructure. In 2014 a category five cyclone hit the Ha’apai islands killing one person and destroying 1,000 buildings. Both hazards affected Tonga’s economic, human, and natural environment, diverting energy and resources from the country’s long-term development agenda. The effects of climate change are set to increase Tonga’s susceptibility to disasters, which threatens all aspects of sustainable development in the Kingdom.

Treaty Ratifications: ICERD, CRC

Resident and Non-resident Agencies: FAO, IFAD, ILO, IOM, OHCHR, UNDP, UNCDF, UN Environment, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNISDR, UNOCHA, UNODC, UN Women, WFP, WHO, WMO

Coordination: Tonga Joint Presence Office

Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015-2025 (TSDF II) “A More Progressive Tonga: Enhancing Our Inheritance”

• ¹⁶⁶The State of Human Development in the Pacific: A report on vulnerability and exclusion in a time of rapid change, UNDP, 2014
• ¹⁶⁷UNESCAP Tonga, 2016.
• ¹⁶⁸Population and Development Profiles: Pacific Countries, UNFPA, 2014.
• ¹⁶⁹Executive Summary, Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015-2025
• ¹⁷⁰Tonga MDG Final Report, Ministry of Finance and National Planning, 2015.
• ¹⁷¹The State of Human Development in the Pacific: A report on vulnerability and exclusion in a time of rapid change, UNDP, 2014
• ¹⁷²Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015-20
• ¹⁷³National Study on Domestic Violence against Women, Ma`a Fa ne mo e Famili.
• ¹⁷⁴Tonga Country Statistics, UNICEF, 2016

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