Domestic violence cases hit 7-year high

Jan 27, 2025 | News | 0

Chief Justice (CJ) Vincent Lunabek and Vanuatu’s Head of State, Nikenike Vurobaravu, at the opening of the 2025 judicial year yesterday. Photo: Doddy Morris

Domestic violence cases in Vanuatu have reached their highest level in seven years, with 1,228 cases filed in 2024, an increase from 1,038 in 2023.

This alarming statistic was revealed by Chief Justice (CJ) Vincent Lunabek during the opening of the 2025 judicial year yesterday at Dumbea Hall, Port Vila.

CJ Lunabek noted that 2024 was an exceptionally busy year for Vanuatu’s courts, with over 3,700 cases filed across the four jurisdictions. This reflects a substantial workload for the judiciary and court administrators.

The Supreme Court saw over 800 cases filed, marking a nearly 5% increase from previous years. Similarly, filings in the Magistrates Court rose by 7%. Meanwhile, the Island Court experienced a slight decrease, with 388 cases filed compared to 407 in 2023.

Despite satisfactory clearance rates in some areas, pending cases across all jurisdictions have increased. There are now 3,113 pending cases, with 45% in the Magistrates Court alone.

CJ Lunabek voiced concern over the higher Pending to Disposal Ratio (PDR) in the Supreme Court, Magistrates Court, and Island Court. The ideal PDR for the Supreme Court is 1.0 or lower, and 0.5 or lower for the Magistrates and Island Courts. Notably, the Court of Appeal (COA) has performed exceptionally well with a PDR of 0.3 and a clearance rate of 102%.

In response to the growing caseload, additional judicial resources were appointed in November 2024. The productivity of judges and magistrates remained consistent, with judges finalising an average of 117 cases and magistrates handling 263 cases each in 2024. However, the CJ acknowledged the need for further improvements, particularly in addressing pending cases and reducing the time to finalise both civil and criminal matters.

Attendance rates, another key performance indicator, remained consistent with 2023 levels. While criminal cases in the Magistrates Court decreased, filings for domestic violence surged, outpacing finalisations. For civil matters, the attendance rate averaged 5.5 due to adjournments, often caused by non-compliance, which directly impacts parties involved.

The Supreme Court reported 48 reserved judgments, most older than 90 days, which will be a focus area for 2025. Enforcement matters also pose a challenge, with an attendance rate of 8.3, higher than civil cases.

CJ Lunabek praised the efforts of the Chief Registrar and his team for their commitment to transparency and efficient case management. He mentioned that a detailed analysis of 2024’s performance would be available on the court’s website within a week.

He said that despite the challenges affecting Vanuatu since 2020 with COVID-19 and up until the 7.3 earthquake, 2025 is a new legal year, and Vanuatu must stand and continue with its vision, which is a Judiciary that is independent

“We are now in 2025. This year marks the beginning of a new legal year, and we come together to reflect on the work and performance of the community, including the courts, over the past years,” said CJ Lunabek.

“We look back on the good things and the challenges that Vanuatu and the courts have experienced.

“This includes reflecting on the contributions of the community, the courts, the development of the law in general, and how various developments in our society have impacted the lives of our people and Vanuatu as a nation.

“We must stand and continue with our vision, and our vision is, the Judiciary that is independent, effective, and efficient, and a legal profession that provides quality ethical accessible and cost effectively legal service to our people and is willing and able to answer the call to public service.”

He added that Vanuatu must also reflect on the achievements, values, strengths, weakness, and strategies from the past, as this reflection provides a foundation for understanding how the country can move forward as a community and as a nation, striving to improve the effectiveness of its legal and societal frameworks.

SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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‘The scars children carry can last a lifetime’ August 13, 2026
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Man remanded over alleged sexual assault of four-year-old girl August 13, 2026
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Cervical cancer preventable, yet a leading cause of death among Vanuatu women August 12, 2026
Minister of Health Robert Bohn said cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of death among women in Vanuatu, yet it is entirely preventable through vaccination, screening and early treatment. Speaking at the official launch of the Vanuatu National Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy 2026–2035 yesterday, Minister Bohn said access to these highly effective prevention measures had previously been limited or unavailable in Vanuatu. As a result, women were often diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease, when treatment options were limited and survival rates were lower. 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The hard work of the Vanuatu Ministry of Health, the Vanuatu Family Health Association and the Ikkana Cancer Society has meant that access to screening has been made available across all provinces, with over 3,500 women receiving treatment.” Mr. Bohn said Vanuatu is also protecting girls from cervical cancer through HPV vaccination, with the national HPV vaccination programme beginning in 2023 and 16,412 girls vaccinated to date. He said this ensures that today’s girls grow up protected, empowered and free from a disease that previously often arrived too late for treatment. “With continued awareness and coordinated delivery strategies, communities learn that the HPV vaccine protects their children and they therefore want their children to be vaccinated,” he said. “As we endorse this document, we acknowledge the journey of women and families affected, the conscientious efforts of health and community workers to improve health outcomes and the valued collaboration of international partners which strengthens our progress. “The Strategy presents a roadmap to strengthen and sustain current efforts, prioritising primary health care, public health approaches and people-centred service delivery tailored to the Vanuatu context.” Minister Bohn said sustained progress would require long-term, sustainable financing and continued coordinated efforts across sectors and disciplines to ensure Vanuatu remains on the path to eliminating cervical cancer. He said the Government of Vanuatu is committed to ensuring activities are adequately coordinated, funded and maintained over time. “Government commits to ensuring that no woman is left unseen, no girl unprotected, and no life lost to a preventable disease,” he said. The senior consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, medical lead for the cervical cancer screening programme and chairperson of the development of the cervical cancer elimination strategy, Dr Boniface Damutalau, said the document launched yesterday provides a roadmap for combating cervical cancer. He said cervical cancer screening began in 2022 using new technologies to detect pre-cancerous lesions, and the launch of the strategy provides guidance for screening, vaccination, treatment and sustainability of the programme through to 2035. “It’s a document that helps us with a roadmap of how we do our screening, our vaccination, our treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, and also it will help us with the sustainability of the programme for the next 10 to 15 years,” he said. Dr Damutalau said available data shows around 18 per cent of women have HPV infection, although he believes the figure could be higher because the hospital continues to see two or three new cervical cancer cases each month. He explained that the best way to prevent cervical cancer is through immunisation of young girls aged around 9 to 14 years and regular screening. Dr Damutalau said screening is the only way to detect cervical cancer early, allowing treatment to begin before the disease progresses. 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Dr Damutalau said most HPV infections clear naturally, but some remain and can increase the risk of cervical cancer. He said about 90 per cent of cervical cancers are linked to HPV, which is why vaccination and early screening are important. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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More boys than girls drop out of school August 12, 2026
More boys than girls are dropping out of secondary schools in Vanuatu, with TORBA Province recording the highest dropout rate. Boys are repeating grades more than girls at both primary and secondary levels across all provinces, and TORBA Province again has the highest repetition rate. These findings were conveyed by the Director of Policy and Planning at the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), John Gideon, in his presentation to set the tone for discussions at the National Education Forum in Port Vila. He said more boys are leaving school for reasons beyond the classroom, such as the cost of education, distance to school and boarding challenges. In 2016, Vanuatu came up with a policy requiring children to start formal primary school at age 6. Director Gideon revealed that the net enrolment rate has been declining since 2023, with girls recording a higher rate while boys’ participation remains lower. Girls also recorded higher gross enrolment rates than boys at every level. Director Gideon also mentioned that the education system is not retaining students, especially at the secondary level. He said about 41 out of every 100 children who start Year 1 remain in school by Year 6, and only about 5 out of every 100 continue through to Year 13. Director Gideon highlighted that the number of early childhood centres has decreased since 2022, primary schools have remained stable, while secondary schools have grown the most, with 67 new schools established since 2015. “There are over 5,400 teachers, but they are not where the students are,” he said. SHEFA, TAFEA and SANMA have the most senior secondary schools, while TORBA faces a severe shortage of junior secondary teachers. Director Gideon encouraged participants at the forum to examine what the data reveals about boys’ engagement in the education system, how to increase enrolment in early childhood and the relationship between enrolment and student progress. Currently, 104,510 students are enrolled across more than 1,000 registered schools in Vanuatu. However, Director General Cherol Ala pointed out that not all children are in school, highlighting the need to improve access, enrolment and participation. While literacy and numeracy outcomes continue to decline, she said monitoring of the nationwide Curriculum Improvement Program (CIP), launched last year, is showing improved outcomes in student learning. Other challenges she mentioned include student and teacher attendance, high dropout rates, limited access to formal training and qualifications, school infrastructure, access to schools and rolling out internet connectivity. She reminded everyone about the ministry’s mission to provide young people with lifelong skills, values and confidence to become self-reliant and contribute to development. Throughout the four-day National Education Forum, government leaders, educators and partners have discussed what has not worked and what needs to be done to improve education outcomes. The forum ends today. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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Vanuatu’s education crisis a ‘national disaster’ – Pikinini Playtime CEO August 12, 2026
Pikinini Playtime founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tony Batten has described Vanuatu’s education situation as a “national disaster”, warning that poor literacy outcomes among children could affect the country’s future development. Speaking during an interview on Kava Mo Kajap, Mr. Batten said reports that around 70 per cent of children are unable to read and write at the expected level should be treated as a serious national concern. “I think it is a national disaster, like a hurricane or an earthquake,” Mr. Batten said. He said Vanuatu’s greatest resource is not its land or natural resources, but its people, and education is the foundation needed to develop that human resource. “Human resources are the number one resource for Vanuatu,” he said. Mr. Batten said countries that have successfully moved from being less developed to more advanced economies have done so by investing heavily in education and building a skilled population. However, he said Vanuatu’s current education results remain a major concern despite the country spending a significant amount of its national budget on education. “Vanuatu gives a lot of money per capita into education, but the results are still among the lowest in the Pacific,” he said. The Pikinini Playtime founder said the challenge is not only about funding but about how the education system delivers results. He questioned why many students continue to leave school without basic reading and writing skills despite years spent in classrooms. Mr. Batten said the impact of poor education outcomes can also be seen in the country’s workforce, where businesses often recruit skilled workers from overseas to fill positions. “We bring people from the Philippines and other countries to do accounting, bookkeeping, management, building and supervisory work, but many ni-Vanuatu are not able to take those opportunities because they do not have the basic education,” he said. He said the literacy issue must be addressed early because children who fail to develop strong reading skills in their early years often struggle throughout their education journey. Mr. Batten also raised concerns about the value placed on education within the system. He said teacher absenteeism, weak accountability and a lack of support for educators contribute to children losing confidence in learning. “When children see that school is not important, they begin to believe they don’t need school,” he said. Mr. Batten acknowledged that many teachers are working under difficult conditions but said the system needs stronger support, training and leadership to improve outcomes. He believes improving education requires everyone involved — government, schools, teachers, principals and parents — to work together. “Children are smart. They have the ability. But they need the right support and the right opportunities,” he said. Mr. Batten said addressing literacy must become a national priority because the future of Vanuatu depends on the quality of education provided to today’s children. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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