Where We Work: South Pacific
Throughout the beautiful islands of the South Pacific poverty is commonplace. High food and oil prices make it very difficult to feed a family. In many areas children must work to help support themselves and their families.
In Papua New Guinea alone child labor has been estimated to make up 19 percent of the workforce. Children as young as 11 are also at risk of being sold into the sex trade by poor families who believe it’s the only chance they have to survive. HIV/AIDS is also a serious problem, due in part to the sex trade.
In some countries education, although available, is not free. Very few poor people can afford an education, and literacy rates are low.
ADRA is working throughout the South Pacific islands to give men, women, and children the support they need to break free of the poverty they fight every day. Take a look at the stories about ADRA’s work in the South Pacific by clicking on the tabs above.
ADRA Fiji Works to Prepare for Flooding
Too often, Fiji endures flooding that fills homes with muddy waters, wipes out bridges, and destroys livelihoods. ADRA Fiji is currently working with ADRA New Zealand to increase community resilience, to prepare for hazards and risks, and to implement a disaster risk reduction plan in 10 communities.
Employment and Education Opportunities in the Solomon Islands
Approximately 33% of the Solomon Island population is under the age of 29, with this figure set to rise. Many of these young people are increasingly looking for ways to participate in the cash economy, pushing large numbers to migrate to urban areas.
ADRA Vanuatu Starts First Project
Vanuatu is one of the poorest countries in Melanesia. Less than 50 percent of the population has access to safe, clean water. Often communities must get their water from creeks that dry up from lack of rainfall, or become polluted from heavy storms and cyclones.
To Be Somebody
Everyone has dreams. Ask children, and they've often already chosen heroes and aspirations. Ask parents, and they hold even bigger dreams for their children. For those living in a country of opportunity, dreams are commonly nurtured, then born.
