Working together to end poverty and injustice

Vanuatu

Around three-quarters of the Ni-Vanuatu people live in rural areas and are dependent on subsistence farming. Vanuatu has a young population, but the limited opportunities for young people means they are increasingly vulnerable to poverty and health problems.

Oxfam New Zealand works with the Vanuatu Rural Development Training Centres Association (VRDTCA) to help provide a wide variety of services to support rural communities, including the expansion of alternative community-based education, in particular vocational skills for local young people.

Oxfam New Zealand in Vanuatu

• Back to School in Vanuatu
  Young people in rural Vanuatu are getting a second chance at an education. At least 4000 students, some as young as 10 years old, are pushed out of formal education each year in Vanuatu. The network of small rural training centres is catching more than 500 of those young people every year and giving them new opportunities to learn.
• Built to last
  Oxfam is supporting the design and construction of rural infrastructure, including classrooms, water supply services and toilets. Design and construction of the infrastructure is undertaken by students trained at the Vanuatu Rural Development Training Centres.
• Wan Smolbag making one big difference
  Radio drama Wan Smolbag aims to increase awareness and demystify issues around reproductive health, including sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS.

Download Oxfam's programme summaries (PDF) for Vanuatu: Water for Survival in Vanuatu Educating young people in Vanuatu

Country profile

Vanuatu – formerly the New Hebrides – gained independence in 1980, following 70 years of joint British and French rule.

• Read the country profile