# Tuvalu - United States Department of State

- Tuvalu HomeReportsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices&#8230;Tuvalu				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Tuvalu																																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																																																																																							Download Report																																																							Translations																																																																 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																																									a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																																											b. Disappearance																																																																											c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																																			Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																																																		d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																																			Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																																																		e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																																			Trial Procedures																																																								Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																																																																																		f. Transnational Repression																																																																											g. Property Seizure and Restitution																																																																											h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																																																	Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																																									a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																																			Internet Freedom																																																																																																																		b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																																			Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																																																		c. Freedom of Religion																																																																											d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																																											e. Protection of Refugees																																																																																	Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																																									Elections and Political Participation																																																																																	Section 4. Corruption in Government																															Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																															Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																																									Women																																																																											Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																																											Children																																																																											Antisemitism																																																																											Trafficking in Persons																																																																											Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics																																																																											Persons with Disabilities																																																																											Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																																																	Section 7. Worker Rights																																																									a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																																											b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																																											c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																																											d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																																																											e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																																																																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Tuvalu during the year.Significant human rights issues included criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct between men, although the law was not enforced.The government took credible steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.																														Section 1.													 Respect for the Integrity of the Person												    																																																a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings										There were no reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings, during the year.																																				b. Disappearance										There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.																																				c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses										The constitution prohibited such practices, and there were no credible reports government officials employed them.																Prison and Detention Center Conditions						There were no significant reports regarding prison or detention center conditions that raised human rights concerns.Administration: There were no known significant reports regarding prison or detention center conditions that raised human rights concerns.Independent Monitoring: The government permitted monitoring by independent human rights observers. Representatives from Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu (Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu) visited twice a week, providing counseling for prisoners.																										d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention										The law prohibited arbitrary arrest and detention and provided for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest or detention in court. The government generally observed these requirements.																Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees						The law permitted arrests without a warrant if a police officer witnessed the commission of an unlawful act or had a “reasonable suspicion” an offense was about to be committed. Police estimated the majority of arrests were without warrants. Police could hold a person arrested without a warrant for a maximum of 24 hours without a hearing before a magistrate. When a court issued an arrest warrant, the warrant stated the maximum permissible detention time before the court had to hold a hearing, which was normally one to two weeks. Authorities did not hold suspects incommunicado or under house arrest.Authorities generally informed arrested persons promptly of the charges against them, although bureaucratic delays sometimes occurred because persons charged with serious offenses had to await trial at a semiannual session of the High Court. There was a functioning bail system. The people’s lawyer (public defender) could represent any suspect free of charge. Persons living on the outer islands did not have rapid access to legal services because the people’s lawyer, based on the main island of Funafuti where the capital was located, traveled infrequently to the outer islands.																										e. Denial of Fair Public Trial										The law provided for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality.																Trial Procedures						The law provided for the right to a fair and public trial, and the judiciary generally enforced this right.						Political Prisoners and Detainees						There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.																										f. Transnational Repression										Not applicable.																																				g. Property Seizure and Restitution										Not applicable.																																				h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence										The law prohibited such actions, and there were no reports the government failed to respect these prohibitions.																																					Section 2.													 Respect for Civil Liberties												    																																																a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media										The law provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right. An effective judiciary and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for media members.Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other Media, Including Online Media: Although there were no formal government restrictions, the government’s Media Department controlled the country’s sole radio and television station. There were no local private, independent media.																Internet Freedom						The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content.																										b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association										Although the law provided for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, there were local restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly.																Freedom of Peaceful Assembly						The law provided for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the government allowed island chiefs to restrict assembly for public worship.																										c. Freedom of Religion										See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at  https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.																																				d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country										The law provided for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these related rights.																																				e. Protection of Refugees										Access to Asylum: The law provided for granting asylum or refugee status, but the government had no established system for providing protection to refugees. There were no reported applications for asylum or refugee status during the year.																																					Section 3.													 Freedom to Participate in the Political Process												    																						The law provided citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage.																										Elections and Political Participation										Abuses or Irregularities in Recent Elections: The 2019 parliamentary elections were widely reported to be fair and free of abuses and irregularities.Participation of Women and Members of Marginalized or Vulnerable Groups: No law limited participation of women or members of marginalized or vulnerable groups in the political process. Participation by women in politics was low, hindered largely by societal discrimination and traditional perceptions of women’s roles as caregivers and managers of the family. Several women served in senior government positions. The 16-member parliament included one woman. There were no members of minority groups in parliament or the cabinet.																																					Section 4.													 Corruption in Government												    																						The law provided criminal penalties for corruption by officials such as theft and offers or solicitation of bribes to influence the performance of duties, and the government generally implemented the law effectively. There were no reports of serious government corruption.																											Section 5.													 Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights												    																						Domestic human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, monitoring and investigating human rights conditions and cases, and published their findings on human rights matters. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.Government Human Rights Bodies: The Office of the Chief Ombudsman included a human rights unit to promote and protect human rights in the country, but it had not been operational since 2022 due to the delay in the appointment of a chief ombudsman following the resignation of the previous ombudsman.																											Section 6.													 Discrimination and Societal Abuses												    																																																Women										Rape and Domestic Violence: Rape of women (not men) was a criminal offense punishable by a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. A perpetrator convicted of “indecent assault” on a man was “liable to imprisonment for seven years.” The law recognized spousal rape. Domestic violence was a criminal offense punishable by a maximum five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. Domestic violence could also be prosecuted as assault, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment in cases involving actual bodily harm. The government generally implemented the law effectively, but cases of rape and domestic violence often went unreported due to lack of awareness of women’s rights and fear of reprisal. The Attorney General’s Office, police, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) conducted nationwide awareness campaigns about domestic violence.The police Domestic Violence Unit employed a “no-drop” evidence-based prosecution policy in cases of sexual and domestic violence against women and operated a 24-hour emergency telephone line for survivors. The law gave police explicit powers to intervene in violent circumstances, including the power to enter private property and order a person who committed an act of domestic violence to vacate the property, regardless of whether that individual had rights to that property, if another person at risk of further violence occupied it. The Women’s Crisis Center provided counseling services, but the only shelter for abused women was often unavailable.Discrimination: Certain legal provisions contributed to women’s unequal status, for example in land inheritance and child custody matters. No law barred employment discrimination based on gender or required equal pay for equal work, and such discrimination occurred. Nonetheless, women increasingly held senior government positions in the health, law, and education sectors and headed several NGOs. Women seeking to start businesses had limited access to credit.Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. The Tuvalu Family Health Association continued to raise awareness of reproductive health, counselling on family planning and conducted early screening cervical cancer and HIV testing with young mothers, expectant mothers, youths, and persons with disabilities in Funafuti and some outer islands. Public awareness programs provided greater opportunity to make informed decisions on reproductive and health-care questions.There were no legal barriers to accessing contraception, but some religious beliefs and cultural barriers, including women’s reluctance to utilize modern contraceptives and the stigma attached to certain health-care matters, limited the use of contraceptives. Limited reproductive health services were available in the outer islands and skilled health-care provider attendance during childbirth was available only at the main hospital in the capital, Funafuti. According to the 2019-2020 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 880 households carried out by the government and supported by UNICEF, approximately 16 percent of girls and women ages 16-49 who reported menstruating in the previous 12 months also reported they did not participate in social activities, school, or work due to their menstruation. The government provided access to health care, including emergency contraception and postexposure prophylaxis, for survivors of sexual violence. The government also provided financial support to NGOs that assisted survivors of sexual violence.																																				Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination										There were no laws to protect members of racial or ethnic minority groups from violence and discrimination.The country was racially homogeneous, with a large Tuvaluan majority and small I-Kiribati/Tuvalu and other minority groups. There were no reports of discrimination or violence against members of minority groups.																																				Children										Child Abuse: There were no laws against child abuse. The government did not collect or publish data on child abuse; it stated there were no reports of child abuse during the year. Anecdotal evidence, however, indicated child abuse occurred. The law prohibited corporal punishment.Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age of marriage was 18, although the laws were not enforced. According to the 2019-2020 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 1.8 percent of women ages 20-24 were married before age 18. Stigma associated with teenage unwed pregnancy likely precipitated some early marriages.Sexual Exploitation of Children: The age of consent for sexual relations was 15. Sexual relations with an underage girl was punishable by up to life imprisonment, depending on the survivor’s age. The survivor’s consent was irrelevant.No law prohibited the use, procurement, or offering of boys from ages 15 through 17 for sex.No provision of law pertained specifically to child pornography, although the penal code prohibited obscene publications in general. Although child trafficking was prohibited, the law prescribed a harsher punishment for the trafficking of adults than of children.																																				Antisemitism										There was no known Jewish community, and there were no known reports of antisemitic acts.																																				Trafficking in Persons										There were no confirmed reports during the year that traffickers exploited domestic or foreign victims in the country or that traffickers exploited victims from abroad.																																				Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics										Criminalization: The law prohibited consensual same-sex conduct between men, with penalties of seven to 15 years’ imprisonment. There were no reports of prosecutions under the law.Violence and Harassment: There were no reports of violence against persons based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, but social stigma or intimidation might have inhibited lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other (LGBTQI+) persons from reporting violence, harassment, or discrimination.Discrimination: The law did not prohibit discrimination by state or nonstate actors based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. Moreover, the criminalization of same-sex sexual acts between men reinforced negative views towards all LGBTQI+ individuals that made them vulnerable to discrimination and abuse. The law did not recognize LGBTQI+ couples or their families and did not grant them rights equal to those of other persons. No laws specifically address bias-motivated crimes.Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: Legal gender recognition was not available.Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices: There were no known reports of involuntary or coercive medical practices targeting LGBTQI+ individuals or surgeries performed on nonconsenting adult or child intersex persons.Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: There were no restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, or peaceful assembly on those speaking out on LGBTQI+ affairs. The Akanda Association, an LGBTQI+ rights NGO, was active and worked with other NGOs, including the Tuvalu Family Health Association.																																				Persons with Disabilities										Persons with disabilities had limited access to education, employment, health services, public buildings, and transportation. There were no mandated building accessibility provisions for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities had limited access to information and communications and to civic and community life. They were subject to discrimination in hiring and employment.Abuse and discrimination against persons with disabilities were widely believed to be common, and women with disabilities were particularly vulnerable to abuse. There were no reports of investigations or punishment by the government for violence and abuses against persons with disabilities, but societal norms could limit the reporting of such incidents, particularly against women and girls with disabilities.The inclusive Education Resource Center, operating as part of the government’s Disability-Inclusive Education Policy and supported by a foreign development partner, provided some children with disabilities access to education. Children with disabilities, however, reportedly had lower school attendance rates at all levels than other children. Some students with disabilities attended public primary schools both in Funafuti and in the outer islands. Parents decided which school their child with disabilities attended after consultation with an adviser from the Fusi Alofa (Hug in Love) Association, a disabilities-focused NGO.																																				Other Societal Violence or Discrimination										Persons with HIV or AIDS faced some societal and employment discrimination. The government and NGOs cooperated to inform the public regarding HIV and AIDS and to counter discrimination.																																					Section 7.													 Worker Rights												    																																																a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining										The law provided for the right of private-sector workers to form and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct strikes. The law did not permit public-sector employees such as civil servants, teachers, and nurses to form and join unions. They could join professional associations that had the right to bargain collectively but not the right to strike. No law prohibited antiunion discrimination or required reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.In general, the government effectively enforced these laws. Employers who violated laws on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining were liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those under other laws involving denials of civil rights; however, penalties were rarely applied. The law also provided for voluntary conciliation, arbitration, and settlement procedures in cases of labor disputes. In general, these procedures were not subject to lengthy delays or appeals.Although there were provisions for collective bargaining and the right to strike, the few private-sector employers set their own wage scales. Both the private and public sectors generally used nonconfrontational deliberations to resolve labor disputes. There was only one registered trade union, the Tuvalu Overseas Seamen’s Union. There were no reports of antiunion discrimination.																																				b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor										See the Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report at  https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.																																				c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment										See the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings .																																				d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																														e. Acceptable Conditions of Work										Wage and Hour Laws: The law permitted the government to set a minimum wage, but the Department of Labor did not do so.The law set the workday at eight hours, and the Department of Labor could specify the days and hours of work for workers in various industries. Although the law provided for premium pay and overtime work, there were no established premium overtime rates or maximum hours of work. Violators were liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those for similar crimes, such as fraud.Occupational Safety and Health: The law provided for rudimentary occupational safety and health (OSH) standards and required employers to provide adequate potable water, basic sanitary facilities, and medical care. Workers could remove themselves from situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities effectively protected employees in such situations. Violators of OSH laws were liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those for crimes like negligence; however, penalties were rarely applied against violators.Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement: The Department of Labor was responsible for enforcing wage and hour regulations, but did not have sufficient capacity or inspectors to regularly conduct workplace inspections, although inspectors did follow up when the Department of Labor received complaints. The government did not effectively enforce overtime laws. The government enforced OSH standards inconsistently. OSH inspections were conducted by the same inspectors under the same authorities as inspections for wage and hours.Approximately 75 percent of the working-age population worked in the informal and subsistence economy, mainly in subsistence agriculture. There was no system for reporting and publishing workplace injuries or deaths, and a lack of resources hampered inspections of informal workplaces.																																				    							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Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																							a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																						b. Disappearance																																																						c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																				Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																				d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																				Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																				e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																				Trial Procedures																																												Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																																																				f. Transnational Repression																																																						g. Property Seizure and Restitution																																																						h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																			Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																							a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																				Internet Freedom																																																																																				b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																				Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																				c. Freedom of Religion																																																						d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																						e. Protection of Refugees																																																			Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																							Elections and Political Participation																																																			Section 4. Corruption in Government																Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																							Women																																																						Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																						Children																																																						Antisemitism																																																						Trafficking in Persons																																																						Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics																																																						Persons with Disabilities																																																						Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																			Section 7. Worker Rights																																							a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																						b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																						c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																						d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																																						e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																									Tags																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																								Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs																								Tuvalu
- Tuvalu National Day Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of StateOn behalf of the United States Government, I offer my sincere wishes to the people of Tuvalu for a joyous National Day this October 1 to mark the 45th anniversary of your independence.As we enhance cooperation on climate challenges and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, the United States is eager to continue collaborating with Tuvalu to ensure the Pacific and its people are strong, free, and resilient. Our shared commitment to democracy, peace, and prosperity in the Pacific region will continue to underpin our enduring partnership for years to come.The United States celebrates with you on this festive and meaningful Independence Day.
- Digital Press Briefing with Daniel J. Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania Daniel J. Kritenbrink, Assistant SecretaryBureau of East Asian and Pacific AffairsDr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for East Asia and OceaniaMODERATOR:  Greetings from the U.S. Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub.  I would like to welcome journalists today to the on-the-record briefing with Daniel J. Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania.  The speakers will provide a readout on the U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit.With that, let’s get started.  Dr. Rapp-Hooper, I’ll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Thanks so much, and thanks to you all for being here this evening, this morning.  We’re glad to have the opportunity to read you out the President’s really consequential summit of Pacific Islands Forum leaders here in Washington just a few days ago, and thrilled to be joining my friend and colleague Dan Kritenbrink to do so.As you know, this week, leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum were all in Washington for the second-ever U.S.-Pacific Island Leaders Summit.  By all accounts, this was an extremely successful and productive visit for the PIF leaders and for the President.  I’ll start with a brief recap of the leaders’ engagements over the past few days, and then I’ll discuss in brief some of the key deliverables that were announced over the course of the summit before handing the floor over to Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink.In advance of the formal meetings that took place in Washington, we got our summit started early on Sunday when Pacific Island Forum leaders took a trip from New York on a special Amtrak train down to Baltimore.  In Baltimore, the leaders attended a Baltimore Ravens game, where they were recognized for their role as American friends in the Indo-Pacific.  They even made it onto the field, where they were recognized before the game began.After the game, they toured a Coast Guard cutter ship in the Baltimore Harbor, the USS Forward, and had a meeting and opportunity to exchange views with Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan on key issues to Pacific Island leaders, including combating illegal fishing and effectively managing maritime domains.Following the Pacific Island Forum leaders’ trip to Baltimore, the leaders came to Washington, where they were hosted by President Biden at the White House on Monday for the second-ever U.S.-Pacific Summit.  They also attended a climate roundtable hosted by Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry as well as a dinner hosted by Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield about which Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink will say more in just a moment.On Tuesday, the leaders also met with members of the philanthropic community, U.S. businesses, and members of Congress.  We closed out the summit with a reception hosted by our friends at the Australian embassy, emphasizing the depths of our people-to-people ties.  And I look forward to Dan speaking to those engagements in a bit more detail very soon.At the summit with PIF leaders on Monday, President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to shared regional priorities and to deepening our cooperation, including to tackling the climate crisis, advancing economic growth, promoting sustainable development, countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and expanding our people-to-people ties.Before getting into the deliverables that we unveiled on Monday, I’d first like to take a step back and recognize the milestones of engagement with PIF countries that we have passed over the course of the last couple of years.Just in the last year, we have opened new embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga in record time, thanks in no small part to the extraordinary work of our colleagues at the State Department.  We opened a USAID regional mission in Fiji and are returning the Peace Corps to the region after years of relative absence.  We are enhancing our engagement with the Pacific Islands Forum as the region’s leading institution, and we continue to expand U.S. cooperation and assistance programs throughout the region.At this year’s summit, we announced expanded ties with our recognition, our diplomatic recognition, of the Cook Islands and Niue, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with both of these Pacific Island nations.Since last year’s summit, this May, Secretary Blinken met with the Pacific Island Forum leaders in Papua New Guinea, and at this week’s summit, the Biden-Harris administration has continued to show that we are delivering on our promises.  All told, we have now announced a commitment to work with Congress towards over $8 billion in new funding and programs for the Pacific Island region.  And again, this is just in the last year.On Monday, President Biden announced a new slate of activities, including plans to work with Congress to request and provide nearly $200 million in new funding.  These programs seek to address the priority issues we hear about from Pacific Island leaders, including the climate crisis – which is existential for many of our Pacific Island friends – and we always stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they work to meet the challenge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.The President on Monday also reaffirmed his commitment to the security of the Blue Pacific Continent, and to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, the United States has announced that it will provide over $11 million to bring cutting-edge maritime domain awareness technology to the Pacific through the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness to help improve the maritime picture and law enforcement information analysis and provision amongst our Pacific Island friends.We’re also delivering on our promise to invest in the prosperity of the region.  As the President has announced, we will invest an additional $40 million working with Congress to expand our Pacific Islands Infrastructure Initiative.  Through this initiative, we’re bringing technical assistance and project preparation work needed to identify commercially viable projects through partners in the U.S. Government, including the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.These are just a few of the key initiatives announced as part of our summit.  One more that I’d flag that we’re happy to go into during our question-and-answer period involves a new microfinance facility that will offer small and micro loans to Pacific Island businesses so that entrepreneurs there have the chance to thrive.  And these deliverables we are working towards illustrate the depths of our collaboration with the Pacific Islands and the promise of expanding our partnership for many years to come.As President Biden has said, the United States is and will long remain a proud Pacific nation.  And as a Pacific nation, the United States is here for the long haul and will continue to deliver on our promises to our partners in the region.I’ll hand the floor over to Dan to talk more about Secretary Blinken’s consequential engagements with the PIF leaders throughout the summit.  Dan, over to you.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Mira, thanks so much, and good evening, everyone.  I think, as my esteemed colleague Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper has outlined, this was a tremendously successful summit that I think demonstrates further the breadth and depth of America’s commitment to the Pacific.  And Mira, I thought that was really a tremendous rundown of a momentous series of events related to the U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit.I thought that I would focus my remarks a bit more narrowly on some of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s significant engagements with the Pacific Island leaders here in Washington, and then also mention briefly the engagement involving the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s meetings during the summit as well.As Secretary Blinken put it, our engagements were designed to show that we’re seizing on the possibilities of this moment to build a more secure, resilient, inclusive, and prosperous Pacific region.As Secretary Blinken also said on Monday night, the fundamental fact is this:  Our fates are tied together.  We’ve long been committed development partners to the Pacific Islands, and we’re excited to bring new energy and resources to the Pacific, working with partners in the Pacific Islands on our shared goal of meeting Pacific priorities and supporting Pacific institutions.We saw this last week, last Friday at the UN – at the end of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, when Secretary Blinken hosted a Partners in the Blue Pacific ministerial in New York.  And at that meeting on Friday, we aimed to highlight the tremendous work we’ve done to advance more effective and efficient cooperation and engagement with our Pacific partners, designed to strengthen Pacific regionalism and to facilitate and encourage other partners and institutions to engage and consult with the Pacific.  And of course those efforts flowed nicely into the Pacific Islands Forum Summit itself, which began, as Mira indicated, on Monday.I think a clear sign of our commitment to the Pacific region came through the establishment of diplomatic relations with both Niue and the Cook Islands.  Following an announcement from President Biden earlier on Monday, Secretary Blinken hosted Niue Premier Dalton Tagelagi and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown for two separate signing ceremonies here in the State Department Treaty Room to make these momentous occasions.  These historic announcements reaffirmed our joint commitments to deepen our cooperation as equal and sovereign partners, guided by respect, genuine engagement, and partnership.  We fully anticipate working even closer with Niue and the Cook Islands on our shared priorities, which include the climate crisis, renewable energy, Pacific regionalism, and good governance, among many others.Secretary Blinken then had the pleasure of joining the millennium compact corporation CEO Alice Albright and iKiribati President Taneti Maamau for a signing ceremony for an MCC-Kiribati threshold program grant agreement that will provide up to $29.1 million to promote safe, accessible, decent, and inclusive employment opportunities for Kiribati workers, both in Kiribati and across the region.  This will be the United States’ largest direct grant investment in Kiribati to date, and it is an agreement that we believe will deliver clear results and benefits to people in the Pacific Islands and solve real challenges to shape our future.I wanted to mention, also on Monday evening, Secretary Blinken hosted really a spectacular dinner here at the State Department in the newly renovated Benjamin Franklin Room, which was an opportunity for the Secretary and other leaders across the U.S. Government to meet with all of the Pacific Island leaders and to discuss in more detail ways that we can expand our cooperation in the future.  The Secretary was delighted to host the banquet with his co-host, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield – of course, America’s Permanent Representative to the UN – and at the dinner, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced that she will be America’s representative to the next Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Summit in November of this year.I think the final event of the summit, the two-day summit, for Secretary Blinken was his meeting with representatives from the Freely Associated States.  Namely, he met with Marshall Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ading, he met with Federated States of Micronesia President Simina, and with Palau President Whipps.  That was on Tuesday, late Tuesday afternoon.During the meeting, the Secretary took the opportunity to underscore the strong people-to-people ties and shared history underpinned by the Compacts of Free Association between the U.S. and these three Freely Associated States.  The Secretary commended the dignitaries for the progress in the negotiations on the compact-related agreements, which we believe signals a new era in our partnerships that will help advance a secure, free, and open Pacific.  And we look forward to further progress on these Compacts of Free Association agreements in the months to come.Finally, of course, climate change, as Mira indicated, was a major topic of discussions since it is such an existential challenge, and we recognize it, as our partners do, as the single greatest threat facing the Blue Pacific.Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry met with Pacific leaders on Monday to discuss the climate crisis and ocean resilience.  Secretary Kerry reiterated the United States’ new policy on sea-level rise and statehood that President Biden had earlier announced as well as new investments in strengthening early warning systems and sustainable development.So in the interest of time, why don’t I stop there.  I know that Mira and I will be delighted to take your questions.  Thanks.MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Thank you, Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink.  We’ll now turn it over to the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.  The first question will go to Ralph Jennings from the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, who sent his question in advance:  “How does the recent U.S. engagement with the South Pacific help offset China’s economic influence in the region?”ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Mira, do you want to take that one first or you want me to dive in?DR RAPP-HOOPER:  I’m happy to take that one, Dan.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Please.DR RAPP-HOOPER:  And I’ll turn to you in just a moment to add your thoughts.  Thanks for the question.  I would say just as a topline matter, when we’re working with our Pacific Island friends, we’re really not focused principally on China.  We’re focused on what the United States can offer as a likeminded partner to this group of countries.  And we are very focused on delivering positive, attractive alternatives to these countries that can help them and their people thrive.  But it’s really about what we stand for together alongside our Pacific Island partners, not about who or what we’re against.But with that in mind, I will note that, as the President announced, our $200 million in new programs for Pacific Island Forum nations do include some really consequential new programs that we believe are going to help our friends in the Pacific to generate the economic dynamism that they’re looking for to offset and combat climate change and to continue their recovery from the pandemic, where they were especially hard-hit.Just as a few examples, we’re stepping up our infrastructure efforts.  Specifically, as I mentioned, the President announced $40 million to new infrastructure projects in the Pacific Islands.  He also announced that the United States will be undertaking new submarine cable projects in the Pacific Islands to build secure, reliable connectivity amongst Pacific Island nations and to ensure that our friends there have the basic digital infrastructure that they need, like reliable, speedy internet on which so many businesses and individuals rely.  And of course, that submarine cable work builds on work we have been doing in recent years, including with the East Micronesia Cable, where we’ve already begun work to improve high-quality and more reliable secure communications for over 100,000 people in the Pacific Islands.  So infrastructure is a big part of our work.We are also delivering a new Millennium Challenge Corporation project with the Government of Kiribati, which is intended to advance economic growth in Kiribati in partnership with the International Labor Organization and American Councils of International Education to bolster and promote safe, accessible, and inclusive employment opportunities for Kiribati workers.Through the Quad, we are partnering with the Government of Palau to implement the deployment of a new ORAN network that is a next-generation, secure mobile network to help Palau get the secure connectivity that it needs.  And as we mentioned at the top of the call, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency is working throughout the Pacific Islands to identify through its technical work opportunities for more viable projects in the months and years to come.So this is just a sampling of the work that we’re doing to try to bring the economic tools we have to bear to help Pacific economies thrive, but I’ll hand it back to Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink to see what he might like to add.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Mira, that’s a brilliant answer.  I – all I could really do is foot-stomp what Mira has already said.  We approach the region from the perspective of advancing our affirmative agenda – the shared interests and values that we hold in common with our Pacific partners.That’s our focus, not any notion of focusing on a third party.  And as we often say, we have a regional strategy.  We’re focused on our affirmative agenda.  And I think if we continue to deliver benefits to our partners in the Indo-Pacific, I’m very confident and optimistic about our future together.In particular, as Dr. Rapp-Hooper has indicated, our entire approach to the Pacific is predicated on meeting our Pacific Island friends where they live.  In other words, in conversation with our Pacific partners, we have understood clearly what their needs and concerns and interests are, as outlined very clearly in the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.  And by design, our work and the work of our other partners through the Partners in the Blue Pacific is specifically designed to address the needs that they themselves have outlined in their strategy.Again, that is the focus of our efforts, not any third parties.  Thank you.MODERATOR:  Okay.  The next question is going to go to Rurika Imahashi, who submitted the question on the chat, the Q&amp;A box here on Zoom.  “Our understanding is that the Marshall Islands parliament will soon certify the compact deal with the U.S.  What is the U.S. understanding on the development of the agreement?”  So we’ll answer that part.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Mira, why don’t I take an initial stab at this one and we’ll ask you, obviously, to add anything else that you would like.DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Sounds good.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  I guess what I would say to any friends with questions about the compacts, I would just simply underscore that the compacts remain of vital importance to the United States.  I think they recognize our deep and historic ties to the three Freely Associated States.  I think they embody the strong ties between the peoples and the governments of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.  And we remain very optimistic about the progress that we’ve made in the compact-related negotiations.I know when Secretary Blinken sat down with the leaders of the three Freely Associated States, he really commended them for the progress that we’ve made.  I think as everyone is tracking, we signed COFA-related agreements with Palau in May and with the Federated States of Micronesia in May, and we’ve made tremendous progress with our friends in the Marshall Islands.  We’re confident that we will conclude all of these agreements very soon and we will continue to build out these incredibly significant relationships that are central to everything we hope to achieve in the Pacific.And I think, as friends are tracking, that these compacts really are extraordinary agreements that are 20-year agreements in duration, and again, we’re confident that we will conclude them and implement them very soon.But, Mira, would you like to add anything to that?DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Not much that I could add, Dan, except just to foot-stomp the point that we believe we are well on our way; we’ll soon be at a successful conclusion and very much look forward to being able to mark that milestone after months of really terrific cooperation with all of the Freely Associated States.  That’s all for me.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Yeah, and maybe just one final comment.  I think Mira’s comments reminded me that I do want to recognize that obviously this work is all being done at the direction of President Biden and Secretary Blinken, but our Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations Joe Yun and his team have also done a brilliant job and I really commend them.  And as Mira indicated, we’re very close and look forward to implementing them very soon.MODERATOR:  The next question will go to Stephen Wright from Radio Free Asia’s BenarNews Service.  Stephen, I also see that your hand is up.  If you’d like to unmute and ask your question, please go ahead.  Yeah, please go ahead and unmute.QUESTION:  Yeah, thanks.  Prime Minister Sogavare didn’t attend the recent summit and subsequently he said the U.S. should show respect to Pacific Island leaders and not lecture them at summits.  What do you think that shows about the progress of U.S. and Solomon Islands relations?  And are there any plans to have an ambassador at the new but smaller embassy in the Solomon Islands?DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Thanks very much.  This is Mira; I’m happy to take a first crack at this, and Dan, perhaps I’ll pass to you just on the embassy piece.We were disappointed that Prime Minister Sogavare was unable to attend the summit in Washington.  We did reach out, including at the very highest levels, to encourage him to join us for this terrific conversation that we’ve been laying out for you here, this opportunity to engage amongst friends, and we’re disappointed that he declined to do so.I don’t have much to say about the specific comments except to note, I think as we have been throughout this call tonight, that the conversation with the President, with the Secretary of State, with every cabinet official and member of Congress at the Pacific Island Forum leaders met with was collaborative, constructive, forward-looking, and I think most importantly involved an incredible amount of listening by U.S. Government officials to continue to refine their understanding of what our Pacific Island Forum friends are most looking for from us.So that’s the approach that we’re going to continue to take.  We continue to believe that it’s the right approach.  We feel that our three really dynamic days of programming show that we’re on the right track, and we look forward to continuing that work on the road ahead.Dan, over to you.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Thank you, Mira.  Maybe specifically on the question regarding our presence in the Solomon Islands, I’ll just note that we were excited and honored to open our new U.S. embassy in Honiara in January of this year, which was less than one year after Secretary Blinken announced our intent to do so.  Really excited about the work that our embassy colleagues there, led by Chargé Russ Comeau – excited about the work that they’re doing, again, to build our friendship and our ties with the people of the Solmon Islands and ensure that we work to deliver tangible benefits to our partners there.Of course, any new first step in opening an embassy involves staffing it, and of course our chargé d’affaires currently leading our embassy efforts there, and we recognized him for his really stellar work there.I would simply say at this point we have taken a number of steps internally to identify the U.S. ambassador, the next U.S. ambassador to the Solomon Islands, and I don’t have anything to announce to you this evening.  But I hope we’ll have something to announce in the near future, but we are certainly working towards that end.  Thank you.DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Dan, if I may just jump in really quickly to add one additional detail.  I did want to note, as Dan noted, the – our wonderful Chargé Russ Comeau in the Solmon Islands was given a really important inaugural award at the dinner so graciously hosted by Secretary Blinken during the Pacific Island Forum Summit.  That inaugural award commemorates intrepid diplomacy in the Pacific Islands, and Chargé Comeau really embodies that to a T.  He has been just absolutely indefatigable in working to build U.S.-Solomons ties.I underscore that because I do want to make clear that the purpose of an award like this is to continue to draw attention to and raise up Americans who are doing their utmost on the ground to build ties with the Pacific Islands.  And I think the fact that we’ve established this award this year, that it was given by the Secretary of State, is just yet another demonstration that we are continuing to create incentives, recognize achievements so that Americans continue to step up and deliver on our promises throughout the Pacific.MODERATOR:  Okay.  I realize that we’re running a little bit over.  We started a few minutes late, so we’ll take a couple more questions.  We have one from Daniel Hurst from The Guardian.  “To what extent is the United States concerned about the newly announced comprehensive strategic partnership between Timor-Leste and China?  Why or why not?”ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Perhaps I can take an initial crack at that one and then ask Mira to chime in.  Look, I think as we indicated earlier, our message to partners in the region is that we’re not asking countries to choose.  We’re in the business of trying to ensure that countries have the ability to make their own sovereign decisions and their own choices free from coercion.My second point would be, as indicated earlier, we’re focused on our affirmative agenda in the region, including with friends in Timor-Leste, and we’ll continue to do that.  We’ll focus on how we can further build out our friendship and partnership with counterparts in the region, including Timor-Leste, and focus on the great work that we can do together.But again, we’re not in the business of asking countries to choose, and I don’t really think it’s beneficial to try to get into some kind of a comparison game or comment on engagement of other partners with the PRC.But, Mira, what would you like to add to that?DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Nothing to add, Dan.  I’m in violent agreement.MODERATOR:  Great.  We are – let’s see.  If the speakers are okay, can we take one more question?ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Absolutely.  Please.MODERATOR:  Great.  Great.  And this one is from Mar-Vic Cagurangan from the Pacific Island Times, based in Tamuning, Guam, who sent it in advance:  “How will a federal shutdown affect the Compact of Free Association, COFA?  Will the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and Palau continue to receive funds throughout the shutdown?  Do you think this affect – this will affect the U.S. credibility with the Freely Associated States?”ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Mira, perhaps I could provide an initial answer on this one as well and then be happy to turn to you.  Yeah, I really do appreciate the question, and I’ll just underscore what I mentioned earlier.  We’re really excited about the progress we’ve made in the compact negotiations and we’re confident that all of these agreements will be concluded soon.The issue that you raised here was discussed in some detail in the meeting between Secretary Blinken and the three leaders from the Freely Associated States, and I can assure you that we are in very close and constant communication with our friends both in the Freely Associated States and with leaders on Capitol Hill to make sure that we have a plan going forward under all circumstances that will allow us to meet our obligations under the compacts.I think, as friends may be tracking, that the draft Compact of Free Association agreements, the draft legislation on the Hill includes authority to continue programs and services at the same levels provided under current agreements until the new agreements are in place so as to avoid a lapse in services.  And we’re also working very closely with our friends so that if there were to be any kind of a lapse in appropriations that we can take the appropriate mitigating steps wherever possible to minimize any possible impacts on our friends in the Freely Associated States.But I think that I can assure you we’re in close and frequent contact with our friends in the Freely Associated States and I’m confident we have a plan to work through any contingency.Mira, what would you like to add?DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Nothing to add, Dan.  Thanks so much.MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And for our closing remarks, I’d like to turn it back to Dr. Rapp-Hooper.DR RAPP-HOOPER:  Thanks so much, folks, for joining us this evening.  I think from this conversation you’ve gotten a pretty good lay of the land of the incredibly substantive set of conversations that took place in Washington this week.  The point I want to emphasize before we let you go is that for us, this project, this promise to renew our ties, renew our commitment to the Pacific Islands, is really about much more than a three-day summit.  It’s about delivery on the promises that we’ve made in the last two years, which I think we showed in spades this week, but on delivery on those new conversations and those new commitments that have been made just this week.We have clear instructions from the President, the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, and many others to move out expeditiously on everything that we announced alongside our Pacific Island friends earlier this week, and we intend to literally put our money where our mouth is and deliver on everything that we seek to do together in the Pacific, whether that is providing finance so that friends in the Pacific can more quickly and readily adapt to climate change or providing micro and small loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses so that women leaders in particular can get the financing they need to allow them to contribute to increasingly dynamic Pacific economies.So we’re really just still in the opening chapter of the new Pacific story that we’re writing here under the Biden administration, but we feel like we have made tremendous progress in just the last two years, and we are emerging from this week’s summit energized and ready to hit the ground running with this new set of programs and new set of promises, and we look forward to being back in touch to share more about how this exciting work is all going.MODERATOR:  And Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink, I’ll turn it over to you for any closing remarks.ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  I can’t say it any better than that.  Beautifully summarized by Mira.  Really grateful to all of our friends in the media for joining us here tonight.  And as Mira indicated, we’re committed to now implementing all of the agreements and the objectives that we’ve set out flowing from this latest summit, and very optimistic, again, about our future ahead with friends in the Pacific.  Thanks again for joining us tonight.MODERATOR:  That brings us to the end of our time today.  Thank you for your questions and thank you to Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink and Dr. Rapp-Hooper for joining us.  We will provide a transcript of this briefing to participating journalists as soon as it is available.  We’d also love to hear your feedback, and you can contact us at any time at AsiaPacMedia@state.gov.  Thank you again for your participation and we hope you can join us for another briefing soon.
- Tuvalu HomeReportsOffice of International Religious Freedom2022 Report on International Religious Freedom&#8230;Tuvalu				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Tuvalu																																					Office of International Religious Freedom																																																																																							Download Report																																																																																	 In this section										/																							Executive Summary																																													Executive Summary																															Section I. Religious Demography																																																																																		Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom																																																									Legal Framework																																																																											Government Practices																																																																																	Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom																																																																																		Section IV. U.S. Government Policy and Engagement																																																																																																								Executive Summary				The constitution provides for the freedom to change religion or belief and the freedom to show and spread religious belief through worship, teaching, observance, or practice. The law designates the Ekalesia A Kelisiano Tuvalu (Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu, or EKT) as the state church and allows it to conduct “special services on major national events.” The law also allows traditional elder councils to withhold permission from religious groups to meet publicly, should they be judged locally to “directly threaten the values and culture of the island community.”Traditional island councils, including on Nanumanga, Nukufetau, and Vaitupu, reportedly continued to discourage public meetings of several minority religious groups, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, and informal religious bans on such groups by traditional leaders remained in place. Missionaries continued to practice without government restrictions on some islands, such as Funafuti, the capital island. The government imposed a 15-minute pause on all public activities in Funafuti every evening so that EKT members could observe evening prayers, although prayer was not mandatory.On smaller islands, residents reportedly continued to perceive Jehovah’s Witnesses and other minority religious groups as being outside of traditional norms. Local traditional leaders of the island of Vaitupu sometimes discouraged groups from proselytizing and withheld approval for meetings other than the EKT and Seventh-day Adventists. In the outer islands, many religious groups continued to operate out of individual homes without formal approval. Local minority religious leaders said the EKT continued to exert considerable influence in the social, cultural, and political life of the country. For example, the church continued to limit social and sports activities on Sunday and encouraged a modest dress code in local villages.U.S. embassy officials met with representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Suva, Fiji to discuss religious freedom and the role of religion in society. The embassy used social media platforms to promote religious pluralism and tolerance, posting messages during major Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim celebrations in support of religious tolerance and practices.																														Section I.													 Religious Demography												    																																															The U.S. government estimates the total population at 11,500 (midyear 2022).  Approximately 86 percent of the population belong to the EKT, which has historical ties to the Congregational Christian Church and other churches in Samoa; 3 percent belong to the Seventh-day Adventist Church; and 3 percent to the Brethren Church.  There are small numbers of Catholics, Muslims, Baha’is, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of the Assemblies of God, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  According to Boston University’s World Religion Database, approximately 95 percent of the population are Christian, 3 percent atheist or agnostic, and 2 percent Baha’i.The nine island groups have traditional chiefs, all of whom are members of the EKT.  Most members of other religious groups are found in Funafuti, and some Baha’is live on Nanumea Island.																																					Section II.													 Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom												    																																																Legal Framework										The EKT is by law the state church, and the law affords its followers “the privilege of performing special services on major national events.” The constitution otherwise provides for separation of religion and state. The constitution provides for “freedom of thought, religion, and belief” and the freedom to show and spread religious belief through worship, teaching, observance, or practice. These freedoms may be limited by law for reasons such as avoiding divisiveness, protecting the rights of others, defense, public order, safety, morality, and health. The preamble of the constitution states the country is “an independent State based on Christian principles, the Rule of Law, and Tuvaluan custom and tradition.”By law, any new religious group with adult members representing not less than 2 percent of the country’s total population (according to the most recent census in 2017) must register with the government; failure to register may result in prosecution. The Ministry of Local Government requires religious groups seeking registration to submit a request signed by the head and supported by five other members of the organization. Information on and proof of the number of adherents, the name of the religious organization, and approval from the traditional elder councils, known as falekaupule, are also required in the request. Under the law, all religious groups, regardless of size, must register with and obtain approval from the falekaupule of any island on which they conduct services. The law prohibits joint or public worship by religious groups not approved by these councils. The law also allows the falekaupule to withhold permission from certain religious groups to meet publicly, should they be judged locally to “directly threaten the values and culture of the island community.” The law provides for unapproved groups to be fined up to 500 Australian dollars ($340) if they engage in public meetings in violation of the law.The powers of the ombudsman include oversight of a national human rights institution to promote and protect human rights, including religious freedom. Labor law prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion.The law guarantees the right of individuals to worship freely within their own residences.The country is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.																																				Government Practices										Missionaries continued to practice without government restrictions on some islands, such as Funafuti. According to sources, on other islands, including Nanumanga, Nukufetau, and Vaitupu, formal and informal bans issued by the falekaupule remained in effect on proselytizing and on public worship by Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were perceived to challenge traditional cultural norms.Government ceremonies at the national level, such as the opening of the parliamentary year, and at the island council level continued to include Christian prayers and clergy. Chaplains representing the EKT and other Christian denominations were available to prisoners for counselling.The government imposed a 15-minute pause on all public activities in Funafuti every evening so that EKT members could observe evening prayers, although prayer was not mandatory.																																					Section III.													 Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom												    																																															According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, residents on the smaller islands outside the capital, including Nukufetau, Nanumanga, and Vaitupu, continued to perceive minority religious groups as being outside of traditional norms.  Local traditional leaders of the island of Vaitupu sometimes discouraged groups from proselytizing and withheld approval for meetings, stating nontraditional religious groups other than the EKT and the Seventh-day Adventists might disrupt traditional societal structures.  Jehovah’s Witnesses stated they conducted meetings online during the year without interference.  In the outer islands, many religious groups continued to operate out of individual homes without formal approval, as their members were few and from the same family.Local minority religious leaders said the EKT continued to exert considerable influence in the social, cultural, and political life of the country.  For example, the church continued to limit social and sports activities on Sunday, encouraged a modest dress code in local villages, and supported the government’s daily 15-minute restriction on public activity in Funafuti so that church members could observe evening prayers.																																					Section IV.													 U.S. Government Policy and Engagement												    																																															There is no permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in the country. The U.S. Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to the government. During the year, embassy officials met with representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Suva to discuss religious freedom and the role of religion in society.The embassy used its social media platforms to promote religious pluralism and tolerance, posting messages commemorating major Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim celebrations, including Easter, Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Navratri.																																				    							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Religious Demography																																																	Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom																																							Legal Framework																																																						Government Practices																																																			Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom																																																	Section IV. U.S. Government Policy and Engagement																																																							Tags																					Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs																								Office of International Religious Freedom																																Religious Freedom																															Tuvalu
- Tuvalu HomeReportsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices&#8230;Tuvalu				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Tuvalu																																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																																																																																							Download Report																																																							Translations																																																																 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																																									a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																																											b. Disappearance																																																																											c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																																			Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																																																		d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																																			Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																																																		e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																																			Trial Procedures																																																								Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																								Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies																																																																																																																		f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																																																	Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																																									a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																																			Internet Freedom																																																																																																																		b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																																			Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																																																		c. Freedom of Religion																																																																											d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																																											e. Protection of Refugees																																																																																	Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																																									Elections and Political Participation																																																																																	Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government																																																																																		Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																																																																																		Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																																									Women																																																																											Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																																											Children																																																																											Antisemitism																																																																											Trafficking in Persons																																																																											Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics																																																																											Persons with Disabilities																																																																											Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																																																	Section 7. Worker Rights																																																									a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																																											b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																																											c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																																											d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation																																																																											e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																																																																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				Tuvalu is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. Observers judged parliamentary elections held in 2019 were free and fair, with seven new members elected to the 16-member parliament. There are no formal political parties. Following the elections, parliament selected Kausea Natano as prime minister.The national police service, under the Ministry of Justice, Communications, and Foreign Affairs, maintains internal security. The country has no military force. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Members of the security forces were not reported to have committed abuses.Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activities between men, although the law was not enforced.The government took steps to investigate officials who committed human rights abuses or engaged in corruption. Impunity was not a problem.																														Section 1.													 Respect for the Integrity of the Person												    																																																a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings										There were no reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.																																				b. Disappearance										There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.																																				c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses										The constitution prohibits such practices, and there were no reports that government officials employed them.Impunity was not a significant problem in the security forces.																Prison and Detention Center Conditions						There were no significant reports regarding prison or detention center conditions that raised human rights concerns.Administration:  The ombudsperson can act on behalf of prisoners and detainees and respond to prisoner complaints.  The government did not investigate or monitor prison conditions and did not receive any complaints or allegations of problematic conditions.Independent Monitoring:  The government permits visits by independent human rights observers.  Representatives from Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu (Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu) visit twice a week, providing counseling for prisoners and religious services for its members.																										d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention										The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his or her arrest or detention in court, and the government generally observed these requirements.																Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees						The law permits arrests without a warrant if a police officer witnesses the commission of an unlawful act or has a “reasonable suspicion” an offense is about to be committed.  Police estimated the majority of arrests were without warrants.  Police may hold a person arrested without a warrant for a maximum of 24 hours without a hearing before a magistrate.  When a court issues an arrest warrant, the warrant states the maximum permissible detention time before the court must hold a hearing, which is normally one to two weeks.  Authorities did not hold suspects incommunicado or under house arrest.Authorities generally informed arrested persons promptly of the charges against them, although bureaucratic delays sometimes occurred because persons charged with serious offenses must await trial at a semiannual session of the High Court.  There was a functioning bail system.  The people’s lawyer (like a public defender) was available free of charge to arrested persons and for other legal advice.  Persons living on the outer islands did not have rapid access to legal services because the people’s lawyer, based on the main island of Funafuti where the capital is located, traveled infrequently to the outer islands.  The country had only one attorney in private practice.																										e. Denial of Fair Public Trial										The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality.																Trial Procedures						The law provides for the right to a fair and public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.						Political Prisoners and Detainees						There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.						Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies						Individuals and organizations may seek civil remedies for human rights abuses through domestic courts.																										f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence										The law prohibits such actions, and there were no reports the government failed to respect these prohibitions.																																					Section 2.													 Respect for Civil Liberties												    																																																a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media										The law provides for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right.  An effective judiciary and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for members of the media.Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other Media, including Online Media:  Although there were no government restrictions, the government’s Media Department controlled the country’s sole radio and television station.  There were no local private, independent media to express a variety of views.																Internet Freedom						The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content, and there were no credible reports the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.																										b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association										Although the law provides for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, the government allows certain restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly.																Freedom of Peaceful Assembly						The law provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the government allowed island chiefs to place restrictions on assembly for public worship.																										c. Freedom of Religion										See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at  www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.																																				d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country										The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these related rights.																																				e. Protection of Refugees										Access to Asylum: The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status, but the government has not established a system for providing protection to refugees. There were no reported applications for asylum or refugee status during the year.																																					Section 3.													 Freedom to Participate in the Political Process												    																																																Elections and Political Participation										Recent Elections: The 2019 parliamentary election was generally considered free and fair, with seven new members elected to the 16-member parliament. Following the election, parliament selected Kausea Natano as prime minister.Political Parties and Political Participation: There were no formal political parties. Parliament tended to divide itself between an ad hoc faction with at least the minimum votes required to form a government and an informal opposition faction.Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No law limits participation of women, members of minority groups, persons with disabilities, or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in the political process, and they did participate. Participation by women in politics was low, hindered largely by their subordinate societal position and by traditional perceptions of women’s role in society. Several women served in senior government positions, however, including as diplomats. The 16-member parliament included one woman. There were no members of minority groups in parliament or the cabinet.																																					Section 4.													 Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government												    																																															The law provides criminal penalties for some forms of corruption by officials such as theft and offers or solicitation of bribes to influence the performance of duties, and the government generally implemented the law effectively.  There were no reports of government corruption.The Office of the Attorney General, police force, ombudsperson, auditor general, Public Service Commission, and Central Procurement Unit were responsible for the government’s anticorruption efforts.																																					Section 5.													 Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights												    																																															No nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused solely on human rights, although no known barriers exist to the establishment of human rights groups.  Some NGOs that included human rights in their agenda, such as the Tuvalu National Council of Women, operated under the auspices of the Tuvalu Association of NGOs, composed primarily of faith-based organizations.  Domestic organizations involved in human rights issues generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases via social media platforms.  Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to local organizations’ views.Government Human Rights Bodies:  The Office of the Ombudsman includes a national human rights institution to promote and protect human rights in the country.																																					Section 6.													 Discrimination and Societal Abuses												    																																																Women										Rape and Domestic Violence: Rape of women is punishable by a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. A perpetrator of “indecent assault” on a man is “liable to imprisonment for seven years.” The law recognizes spousal rape. The law recognizes domestic violence as a criminal offense. Under the law domestic violence offenses are punishable by a maximum five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. Under the assault provisions of the penal code, the maximum penalty for common assault is six months’ imprisonment, and for assault with actual bodily harm, it is five years.Police have a Domestic Violence Unit, employed a “no-drop” evidence-based prosecution policy in cases of violence against women, and operated a 24-hour emergency telephone line for victims of domestic violence. The law gives police explicit powers to intervene in violent circumstances, including the power to enter private property and order a person who has committed an act of domestic violence to vacate the property, regardless of whether that individual has rights to that property, if another person at risk of further violence occupies it. The Women’s Crisis Center provided counseling services, but there were no shelters for abused women. The government generally implemented the law effectively, but cases of rape and domestic violence often went unreported due to lack of awareness of women’s rights and traditional and cultural pressures on victims. The Attorney General’s Office, police, and NGOs conducted nationwide awareness campaigns.Sexual Harassment: The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment but prohibits indecent behavior, including lewd touching. The Tuvalu Study on People with Disability, released by the government in 2018, found that women with disabilities were subject to abuse and harassment, including sexual abuse.Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. The Tuvalu Family Health Association continued to raise awareness of cervical cancer and early screening with young mothers, expectant mothers, youths, and persons with disabilities in Funafuti and the outer islands of Nukufetau, Nui, Nanumaga, and Vaitupu. The purpose was to assist these groups and provide them with greater opportunity to make informed decisions on reproductive and health issues.There were no legal barriers to accessing contraception, but some religious beliefs and cultural barriers, including women’s reluctance to utilize modern contraceptives and the stigma attached to certain health issues, limited the use of contraceptives. Limited reproductive health services were available in the outer islands and skilled health attendance during childbirth was available only at the main hospital in the capital, Funafuti. According to a 2019-2020 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 880 households carried out by the government and supported by UNICEF, approximately 16 percent of girls and women ages 16-49 who reported menstruating in the previous 12 months also reported that they did not participate in social activities, school, or work due to their last menstruation. The government provided access to health care, including emergency contraception, for survivors of sexual violence. The government also provided financial support to NGOs that assist survivors of sexual violence.Discrimination: Aspects of the law contribute to an unequal status for women, for example in land inheritance and child custody rights. No law bars employment discrimination based on gender or requires equal pay for equal work, and such discrimination occurred. Nonetheless, women increasingly held positions in the health and education sectors and headed several NGOs.																																				Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination										There are no laws to protect members of racial or ethnic minority groups from violence and discrimination.The country is relatively homogeneous, with a large Tuvaluan majority and small Tuvaluan/I-Kiribati and other minority groups. There were no reports of discrimination or violence against members of minority groups.																																				Children										Birth Registration:A child derives citizenship at birth, whether born in the country or abroad, if either parent is a citizen. The law requires registration of births within 10 days, a practice generally observed.Education: Education is compulsory until age 15. No law specifically mandates free basic education, but government policy generally provided free basic education for all.Child Abuse: There are no laws against child abuse. The government does not collect or publish data on child abuse, and there were no reports of child abuse during the year. Anecdotal evidence, however, indicated child abuse occurred. The law prohibits corporal punishment.Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age of marriage for both girls and boys is 18. According to the 2019-2020 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 0.2 percent of girls and women ages 15-49 first married before age 15. The survey found that 8.6 percent of women ages 20-49 first married before age 18, while 1.8 percent of women in a younger cohort, ages 20-24, first married before age 18. According to a 2017 UNICEF report, Situation Analysis of Children in Tuvalu, the shame and stigma associated with teenage pregnancy forced some girls into marriage.Sexual Exploitation of Children: The age of consent for sexual relations is 15. Sexual relations with a girl younger than 13 carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Sexual relations with a girl aged 13 or 14 carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. No law prohibits the use, procurement, or offering of boys from age 15 through 17 for sex. The victim’s consent is irrelevant under both these provisions; however, in the case of sexual exploitation of boys, reasonable belief the victim was 15 or older is a permissible defense. No provision of law pertains specifically to child pornography, although the penal code prohibits obscene publications in general. Although child trafficking is prohibited, the law prescribes a harsher punishment for the trafficking of adults than of children.																																				Antisemitism										There was no known Jewish community, and there were no known reports of antisemitic acts.																																				Trafficking in Persons										There were no confirmed reports during the year that traffickers exploited domestic or foreign victims in the country or that traffickers exploited victims from Tuvalu abroad.																																				Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics										Criminalization:The law prohibits consensual sexual conduct between men, with penalties of seven to 15 years’ imprisonment. While there were no reports of prosecutions under the law, negative views towards all LGBTQI+ individuals made them vulnerable to discrimination and societal stigmatization.Violence against LGBTQI+ Persons:There were no reports of violence against persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but social stigma or intimidation may inhibit reporting of such discrimination or violence.Discrimination: The law does not specifically prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics; nor does it recognize LGBTQI+ individuals, couples, or their families. There are no hate crime or antigay propaganda laws, nor are there criminal justice mechanisms to aid in the prosecution of bias-motivated crimes against members of the LGBTQI+ community.Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: Legal gender recognition, by which the government allows individuals to change their gender identity marker on legal and identifying documents to bring them into alignment with their gender identity, was not available.Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices Specifically Targeting LGBTQI+ Individuals: There were no known reports of involuntary or coercive medical practices targeting LGBTQI+ individuals.Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: There were no restrictions of freedom of expression, association, or peaceful assembly on those speaking out about LGBTQI+ issues.																																				Persons with Disabilities										The law does not specifically prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities. Government services to address the specific needs of persons with disabilities were very limited. There were no mandated building accessibility provisions for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities had limited access to information and communications, including participation in civic life, and were subject to discrimination in employment (section 7.d.). Persons with disabilities had access to health services and most forms of transportation available, but there were no specific accommodations for persons with disabilities.Abuse and discrimination against persons with disabilities were widely believed to be common, and women with disabilities were particularly vulnerable to abuse. There were no reports of investigations or punishment by the government for violence and abuses against persons with disabilities, but societal norms may limit the reporting of such incidents, particularly against women and girls with disabilities.An inclusive Education Resource Center, operating as part of the government’s Disability-Inclusive Education Policy, and supported by a foreign development partner, provided children with disabilities a safe learning space. Children with disabilities reportedly had lower school attendance rates at all levels than other children. Some students with disabilities attended public primary schools both in Funafuti and in the outer islands. Parents decided which school a child with disabilities attended after consultation with an adviser from the Fusi Alofa (Hug in Love) Association, a disabilities-focused NGO.																																				Other Societal Violence or Discrimination										Persons with HIV or AIDS faced some societal and employment discrimination. The government and NGOs cooperated to inform the public regarding HIV and AIDS and to counter discrimination.																																					Section 7.													 Worker Rights												    																																																a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining										The law provides for the right of private-sector workers to form and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct legal strikes. The law does not permit public-sector employees such as civil servants, teachers, and nurses to form and join unions. They may join professional associations that have the right to bargain collectively but not the right to strike. No law prohibits antiunion discrimination or requires reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.In general, the government effectively enforced these laws. Employers who violated laws on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining were liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those under other laws involving denials of civil rights. The law also provides for voluntary conciliation, arbitration, and settlement procedures in cases of labor disputes. In general, these procedures were not subject to lengthy delays or appeals.Although there are provisions for collective bargaining and the right to strike, the few private-sector employers set their own wage scales. Both the private and public sectors generally used nonconfrontational deliberations to resolve labor disputes. There was only one registered trade union, the Tuvalu Overseas Seamen’s Union. There were no reports of antiunion discrimination.																																				b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor										The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively enforced the law. Penalties were commensurate with those for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping. Anyone who exacts, procures, or employs forced or compulsory labor is liable to up to 10 years’ imprisonment. There were no reports of forced labor during the year.																																				c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment										See the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor athttps://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings.																																				d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation										Labor laws and regulations do not prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national origin, age, disability, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV or other communicable disease status, or social status, and individuals sometimes experienced discriminatory practices. In the wage economy, men held most higher-paying positions. Women faced employment discrimination, in part due to a lack of legal protection and in part due to their perceived subordinate social status. Nonetheless, women increasingly held senior positions in government, particularly in the health and education sectors. Few women could access credit to start businesses. Persons with disabilities faced discrimination in hiring and access to the workplace. Local agents of foreign companies that hired seafarers to work abroad barred persons with HIV or AIDS from employment.																																				e. Acceptable Conditions of Work										Wage and Hour Laws: The law allows the government to set a minimum wage, but the Department of Labor did not do so.The law sets the workday at eight hours, and the Department of Labor may specify the days and hours of work for workers in various industries. Although the law provides for premium pay and overtime work, there are no established premium overtime rates or maximum hours of work. Violators are liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those for similar crimes, such as fraud.Occupational Safety and Health: The law provides for rudimentary occupational safety and health (OSH) standards and requires employers to provide adequate potable water, basic sanitary facilities, and medical care. Workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities effectively protected employees in such situations. Violators of OSH laws are liable to a fine, a penalty that was commensurate with those for crimes like negligence.Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement: The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing wage and hour regulations, but it did not have sufficient capacity or inspectors to regularly conduct workplace inspections, although inspectors did follow up when the Labor Department received complaints. The government did not effectively enforce overtime laws. The government enforced OSH standards inconsistently. OSH inspections were conducted by the same inspectors under the same authorities as inspections for wage and hours.Informal Sector: Approximately 75 percent of the working-age population worked in the informal and subsistence economy. The main types of subsistence activity included fishing; agricultural activities such as fruit and vegetable gardening and raising livestock; coconut tree sap collection; copra production; handicrafts; house building; and traditional food preservation. There was no system for reporting and publishing workplace injuries or deaths, and a lack of resources hampered inspections of informal workplaces.																																				    							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Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																							a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																						b. Disappearance																																																						c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																				Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																				d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																				Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																				e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																				Trial Procedures																																												Political Prisoners and Detainees																																												Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies																																																																																				f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																			Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																							a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																				Internet Freedom																																																																																				b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																				Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																				c. Freedom of Religion																																																						d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																						e. Protection of Refugees																																																			Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																							Elections and Political Participation																																																			Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government																																																	Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																																																	Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																							Women																																																						Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																						Children																																																						Antisemitism																																																						Trafficking in Persons																																																						Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics																																																						Persons with Disabilities																																																						Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																			Section 7. Worker Rights																																							a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																						b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																						c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																						d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation																																																						e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																									Tags																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																								Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs																								Tuvalu
- Building Economic Inclusion via the Blue Economy Program Office of the SpokespersonThe U.S. Department of State and Taiwan, under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representation Office in the United States, are proud to partner with the Grameen Foundation to launch the Building Economic Inclusion via the Blue Economy (BELUU) program, a three-year effort to enhance women’s ability to thrive via a more connected business environment, demonstrating the benefits of inclusive development, women’s economic empowerment, and democratic values that foster participation from all. The program will focus on the power of the blue and green economies to increase the market participation of women entrepreneurs in the island nations of Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Marshall Islands.BELUU will work with women-led civil society organizations to address barriers women islanders experience with respect to market engagement and disruptions in the economy.  In response to worsening climate impacts, including cyclones, drought, and sea-level rise, as well as the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, BELUU will prioritize advancing equity through outreach to and consultation with individuals from rural areas, ethnic minority communities, and LGBTQI+ communities.Under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), BELUU is co-funded by the United States and Taiwan and is expected to reach more than 56,000 women and youth entrepreneurs and community members. The United States is committed to partnering with AIT and TECRO to enhance all women’s meaningful participation in the global economy.
- Tuvalu National Day Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of StateOn behalf of the United States of America, I offer my congratulations to the people of Tuvalu as you celebrate the 44th anniversary of your nation’s independence on October 1.Our shared commitment to democracy and a free, open, prosperous, and resilient Indo-Pacific has guided our relationship for over forty years. The United States greatly appreciates Tuvalu’s principled stance supporting democracy and looks forward to furthering our collaboration on the climate crisis, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and future challenges that we may face together.I congratulate the people of Tuvalu as you celebrate this historic and joyous day.
- Investing in the Future of the Pacific: U.S. Assistance Continues to Address WWII-era Explosive Hazards Bureau of Political-Military AffairsOffice of Weapons Removal and AbatementEthan RinksSeventy-seven years after the end of World War II, Pacific Island nations still face the daunting challenge of post-war impacts: unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned munitions littered throughout the vast expanse of the region.  At the height of WWII from 1941 to 1945, military forces from the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand clashed in a series of battles across the Pacific Islands.  Large stocks of munitions predominantly from the United States and Japan were shipped to various islands to support ongoing military operations.  Unused and abandoned munitions as well as other explosive items that failed to detonate were left scattered across islands and atolls, buried in the sand, or submerged in surrounding lagoons.  At the conclusion of WWII, a large amount of UXO remained, posing a significant threat to local communities.  After more than seven decades, the presence of WWII ordnance continues to affect nine Pacific Island nations: Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The United States has been at the forefront of unexploded ordnance remediation efforts, alongside allies and partners like Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, through its conventional weapons destruction program.  Progress to date has been significant, but there is much more to do.  The United States is a Pacific nation—geographically, economically, historically, and culturally—and remains invested in supporting a prosperous Pacific.  Identifying and destroying explosive hazards is critical to sustaining that success by making land safe for our Pacific Island allies and partners to grow their economies through sustainable development. In countries where land is scarce, clearing unexploded ordnance can have an outsized impact.  WWII-era bombs being prepared for destruction by Palau Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams. (Photo Norwegian People’s Aid photo) In Palau, the United States supports UXO clearance through the National UXO Safety Office.  The United States has committed more than $5.4 million to create a national UXO survey plan, conduct clearance operations, and build the capacity of the Government of Palau to identify and destroy UXO.  Since 2020, the United States has funded the return of more than 80 acres of land back to local populations and destroyed 2,294 UXO with U.S. implementing partner Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).  Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel lift a WWII-era bomb prior to destruction. (Golden West Humanitarian Foundation photo)In Solomon Islands, the United States has provided more than $6.8 million since 2009 to establish an explosive ordnance disposal  team with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and build national capacity to identify and destroy Explosive Remnants of War.  This included training 13 engineers who have conducted over 1,200 EOD callouts and destroyed more than 29,746 items of UXO with implementing partner Golden West Humanitarian Foundation since 2009.  The United States is ramping up its efforts in Solomon Islands as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman discussed with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare during her August visit to Honiara.    A U.S.-funded team in Marshall Islands utilizes a mobile bomb cutting system. This process cuts UXO to expose explosive filler for a safe burn out of the explosives, leaving the remaining materials explosive-free. (Golden West Humanitarian Foundation photo)The United States has invested more than $2 million in the Republic of Marshall Islands for UXO technical survey and explosive ordnance disposal operations on 12 islands spread across five atolls.  This includes critical cooperation through the Marshall Islands’ Historic Preservation Office to identify and catalogue U.S. and Japan-origin ordnance.  United States funding to the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has helped find and destroy over 140 air-dropped bombs, mortars, sea mines, and other explosive hazards that threatened local communities.  The United States is working with Republic of Marshall Islands to expand cooperation and further advance UXO remediation throughout the island nation.  The United States has also supported short-term deployments by PM/WRA’s Quick Reaction Force to address UXO contamination throughout the Pacific. (Golden West Humanitarian Foundation photo)The United States’ Quick Reaction Force has also been critical to the safety and security of UXO threats in the Pacific.  It is a team of civilian explosive ordnance disposal technical experts that serve as first responders to unexpected UXO-related emergencies across the globe, including munitions depot explosions, ammunition depots at risk of imminent explosion, and Explosive Remnants of War that pose significant threats to civilians.  The Quick Reaction Force has addressed UXO requirements throughout the Pacific in the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. The United States’ work over the past decade with Pacific Island partners to remediate WWII-era explosive hazards is foundational for a prosperous Pacific, and the United States will continue building on these partnerships to enhance host nation capacities that address UXO, and support survey and clearance, so that Pacific partners may advance development priorities on land free from UXO. The United States, through its conventional weapons destruction program, has funded work in the Pacific since 2009.  Since 1993, it has provided more than $4.7 billion in assistance to over 100 countries – making the United States the world’s single largest financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction.  For more information, check out our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety, and follow us on Twitter @StateDeptPM. About the Author: Ethan Rinks is the Program Manager for the East Asia and Pacific portfolio in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement at the U.S. Department of State.  
- Governance of the Seas: Assistance to Pacific Island Partners Bureau of Political-Military AffairsOffice of Global Programs and InitiativesBex Melvin and Luke HanstedtOn September 28-29, 2022, representatives of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Nauru, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, Independent State of Papua New Guinea, Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of Vanuatu, and the United States will gather in Washington D.C. for the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit.  The Summit, which will be hosted by President Biden, will “demonstrate the United States’ deep and enduring partnership with the Pacific Islands and the Pacific region that is underpinned by shared history, values, and people-to-people ties.”   The Summit will also offer opportunities to touch upon key issues such as climate change and the effects of natural disasters, how to safeguard the Blue Pacific Ocean and its resources, and ways to promote inclusive economic opportunity while ensuring peace and security.  The Summit will reinforce U.S. and Pacific Islands efforts to implement our respective guiding documents, including the Pacific Island Forum 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, which promotes a free, open, transparent, prosperous, and resilient Pacific region.  Maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is vital to the economic prosperity and security of the United States and regional partners.   Indo-Pacific Challenges  Unfortunately, the Indo-Pacific region faces mounting challenges, including climate change, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and illegal research activities in island nations’ exclusive economic zones, as well as predatory economic investments that undermine democratic governance and enable corruption and human rights abuses.  Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Activities:  The legal regime reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for an EEZ extending up to 200 nautical miles from coastal baselines, within which the coastal state has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing both living and non-living natural resources.  Bad actors are increasingly conducting activities in EEZs that are inconsistent with such sovereign rights, including interference with resource exploitation, IUU fishing, and conducting marine scientific research without coastal state consent. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing:  According to President Biden’s National Security Memorandum on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Associated Labor Abuses, IUU fishing and related harmful fishing practices are among the greatest threat to ocean health and contribute to the collapse or decline of fisheries that are critical to the economic growth, food systems, and ecosystems of numerous Pacific Island nations.  These practices undermine the sustainability of fish stocks, circumvent conservation and management measures, and often go hand in hand with the use of forced labor and other illicit activities.   Climate Change:  Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security, and well-being of people in the Pacific, as stated in the Pacific Island Forum Leaders’ Boe Declaration on Regional Security.  Climate change is growing ever-more severe as glaciers melt, and the Pacific Islands battle rising sea levels.  How the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Helps to Promote “Governance of the Seas” Considering the strategic context and challenges mentioned above, and in support of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Political-Military Affairs Bureau seeks to improve maritime governance and institutional capacity in the Indo-Pacific region.  The Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP) is one tool for the United States to promote collective action in addressing these challenges unique to the Indo-Pacific in support of U.S. foreign policy priorities and international law.  Through GDRP, the Bureau provides several Pacific Island countries with regular advisory assistance to strengthen institutions to address our shared maritime security objectives, increase cooperation, and reinforce that the United States is a steadfast and reliable security partner in the region.  GDRP advisors coordinate closely with advisors from Australia, Japan, and other partner countries to promote an open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific.   In the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Marshall Islands, GDRP aims to increase these nations’ ability to detect and counter illicit activities in their respective exclusive economic zones enhancing partner nations’ maritime domain awareness and by enhancing coordination and cooperation between law enforcement and the justice sector.  GDRP also provides advisory support to Vanuatu to assist in strengthening maritime security institutions and capabilities, in support of Vanuatu’s National Security Strategy.  The Bureau&#8217;s advisory support has enabled Vanuatu to improve the maritime domain awareness tools and procedures it uses to monitor its exclusive economic zone. GDRP advisors have also helped the Government of Palau to improve maritime governance and maritime domain awareness.  GDRP has assisted Palau with improving maritime governance and maritime security capacity through better monitoring and surveillance of Palau’s exclusive economic zones, and by identifying and countering illicit activities such as IUU fishing.  In support of expanding Palau’s relationships in the region, the Political-Military Affairs Bureau has worked side-by-side with Palau to engage with counterparts in the Philippines to share best practices, explore joint operations opportunities, and share experiences amongst maritime domain awareness specialists.  These efforts will strengthen Palau’s maritime security by increasing its capacity to monitor Palau’s exclusive economic zone and detect and interdict vessels engaged in unlawful activity, while also benefitting the government of the Philippines through improved awareness and monitoring capabilities in the Philippine Sea. The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Global Programs and Initiatives manages the Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP) that seeks to enhance security sector governance and institutional capacity.  Since the inception of the GDRP Program in 2018, the Bureau&#8217;s consultative and partnership-based approach to institution capacity-building has increased local ownership and sustainability of program objectives.  GDRP advisory assistance around the world continues to promote processes to mitigate the risk of corruption and enhance transparency within the security sector.  Thadvocacy of good practices in security sector governance advances U.S. national security and shared interests, and promotes the alliances and partnerships needed to succeed in today&#8217;s competitive geopolitical environment. About the Authors: Bex Melvin and Luke Hanstedt serve as portfolio managers in the Political-Military Affairs Bureau’s Office of Global Programs and Initiatives.  
- Deputy Secretary Sherman’s Meeting with Tuvalu Prime Minister Natano Office of the SpokespersonThe below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman met with Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano to discuss shared priorities for the Pacific region in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Deputy Secretary Sherman commended Tuvalu for their unwavering support for Taiwan.  The Deputy Secretary reiterated the United States’ support for a strong and unified Pacific Island Forum.  The Deputy Secretary and Prime Minister Natano also discussed regional concerns, including addressing the climate crisis.