National Children's Day in Tuvalu

Tuvalu, a state and Polynesian archipelago, is to many people idyllic. But its paradisiacal image differs from the real dangers of climate change. Despite a noticeable improvement of the children’s rights situation in the archipelago, it is not yet perfect.

Tuvalu has fewer than 10000 inhabitants, spread over a number of small atolls separated by huge expanses of open sea. The difficulties this creates in terms of providing enough teaching staff, buildings and equipment can be easily imagined. There was six years' compulsory primary education for all children at the country's 12 primary schools, nine of them government-owned and free to parents, the others church-run and charging nominal fees. Until 1991, however, there was only one state secondary school, a boarding establishment on centrally situated Vaitupu island, and only enough places in it for one in four primary school leavers from the whole country.

From day to day, the children of Tuvalu watch their beaches disappear. The waves uproot coconut trees on the islands and the coral reef deteriorates more and more. By 2050, according to some experts, the isles of Tuvalu will no longer exist.