New Caledonian women struggling to benefit from employment boom
Updated
New figures show that unemployment in New Caledonia has been almost halved in the last four years. However, there is still concern that people living outside of the Southern Province and women are finding it difficult to find work.
Helene Hofman
Speaker:Director of the Institute for the Development of Skills in New Caledonia, Philippe Martin; spokesperson for the FLNKS, Victor Tutugoro.
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HOFMAN: Just four years ago the rate of unemployment in New Caledonia was 12 percent.
New figures for the first six months of this year show that that has dropped to just 6.7 percent.
According to the Institute for the Development of Skills in New Caledonia, the growth of the nickel mining industry has been instrumental to fuelling job creation.
However, with opportunities in construction, public works and maintenance dominating job offers, the number of unemployed women is increasing.
Director of the Institute, Philippe Martin, says they are more likely to be trained to work in the tertiary sectors where there are fewer job opportunities:
MARTIN: Three sectors are employing the most people: first of all, construction, and public works, then mining and maintenance. We do have some concerns about women. Unemployed women try to search work in the tertiary sector, but there is not much offers in this sector. New Caledonia is trying to train the women for joining the sectors that are more attractive.
HOFMAN: The figures show that job offers are unevenly distributed across New Caledonia's three provinces.
About 90 percent of jobs are concentrated on the largely European Southern Province.
The Northern Province is home to almost one-fifth of New Caledonia's population, most of which belong to the indigenous Kanak community. However, only 9 per cent of jobs in the territory are offered in that area.
The Loyalty Islands, despite having 13 per cent of the population, has 0.3 per cent of the jobs.
Spokesperson for the Kanak, pro-independence FLNKS movement, Victor Tutugoro, says that while the figures show real improvements, many people are still struggling to find work.
TUTUGORO (translation): These figures mask the reality that many, many, many people are still looking for work. There is a terrible shortage of skills training, especially in the north - here in the Northern Province - and in the Loyalty Islands. Today we still have difficulty in ensuring that the inhabitants of the north are well trained and trained to the highest standard to be able to actively contribute to economic development.
HOFMAN: According to Institute for the Development of Skills, a number of mining projects planned for the north should result in more jobs for the region in 2009 and 2010.
However its director Phillipe Martin recognises that unemployment is still a significant issue in the Loyalty Islands and the Northern Province:
MARTIN: There is a difference between the Northern Province and the Southern Province, because the work is still in the Southern Province. It's easier to find a job in Southern Province than Northern Province. But we think that the main project here in Northern Province will change this trend.
