The recently established National Career Counselling & Employment Center (NCCEC) within the TVET section of the Kiribati Ministry of Labour & Human Resource Development has already facilitated the departure of 18 skilled workers for the hospitality sector in Australia, with two more groups departing in November 2016.

This is a significant progressive development towards mitigating the challenges of securing employment in a small fragile atoll economy, also impacted by climate change. The NCCEC was established with technical assistance from the ILO through a Labour Migration Project and continues to be supported through ILO regular programme for Kiribati.

When the ILO team visited the center in June this year, the ministry had just physically set up the center and recruited staff to manage it. “Currently, the center is focusing on oversees employment opportunities as that’s where the growth market is, for our graduates and skilled people”, said Mr Tomitana Eritama , the Senior Labour Officer (TVET).

The specific trades include housekeeping, bar tendering, cooks, receptionist and utilities. 80% of those securing these jobs are women, more than the female numbers for the unskilled seasonal workers programme.

ILO Programme Officer, Mr Edward Bernard said that while the center is an ILO supported initiative, the partnership with the Australian funded TVET Sector Strengthening Project (TVETSSP) and the Kiribati Institute of Technology (KIT) establishes a good model. “TVETSSP facilitates discussions with the recruiter Malpha Australia Ltd and establishes quality assurance while KIT provides refresher and pre-departure training. The NCCEC calls for registrations, vets them, uploads them on the database and works with KIT on preparing them for interviews with oversees employers/recruiters and facilitates departure”, said Mr Bernard.

The two ILO publications, My Guide to Overseas Employment and My Guide to Employment for Young People in the Pacific, are being used by the center and KIT to prepare the skilled workers. In 2012, the ILO supported a staff of the Ministry to be attached with the Fiji National Employment Center (NEC) to get exposure to employment services.

The ILO plans to provide more training to the center staff using the guides and interested to update some sections based on specific Kiribati experiences. Training for staff on the OSH and Employment laws of Australia is also critical, to support pre-departure training.

In 2017, the ILO plans to support the center to establish a model to provide employment services for securing skilled jobs locally by working closely with local employers. ILO hopes to draw experiences from its work in the establishment of Employment Services Vanuatu (ESV), with some tailoring to suit the local Kiribati context.

ILO’s technical assistance is linked to its youth employment programme and contributes to Kiribati’s National Migration Policy, National Migration Action Plan and Migrating with Dignity Policy.