Teima Onorio (also as Teimwa) (born 1963) is an I-

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

politician who has been a Member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

since 1998. She served as the

vice president of Kiribati The vice-president of Kiribati () is the vice president, deputy head of State of the Kiribati, Republic of Kiribati. His or her constitutional functions are to exercise the duties of the President of Kiribati, temporarily or permanently, should th ...

from 2003 to 2016."Historical Information on the Parliament of Kiribati"
, Kiribati Parliament website

Early life

Onorio is the daughter of Rota Onorio, president of Council of State and acting President of Kiribati from 10 December 1982 until 18 February 1983. She was educated at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

(BA) and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(MA, 1990).

Career

Onorio served as Member of Parliament for the

Arorae Arorae (spelling variants: Arorai, Arurai; also known as Hope Island or Hurd Island“Captain Patterson, commanding the brig ''Elizabeth'', called it Hope Island: “Hope Island, in 2° 43′ S and 176° 56′ 25″ E, was the first discovery, t ...

constituency from 1998 to 2002. She has also held the post of Minister for Internal and Social Affairs since 2012. She was Minister for Education, Youth and Sports Development from 2003 to 2007, before heading the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives from 2007 to 2008 and then returning to Education, Youth and Sports Development from 2008 to 2012. As Vice-President of Kiribati, she has represented the

Alliance of Small Island States Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is an intergovernmental organization of low-lying coastal and small island countries. AOSIS was established in 1990, ahead of the Second World Climate Conference. The main purpose of the alliance is to c ...

at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, speaking on the topic of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

."Assemblée générale : appels épars au respect du protocole de Kyoto"
UN News Centre, September 21, 2009 President

Anote Tong Anote Tong (; born 11 June 1952) is an I-Kiribati environmental activist and former politician for the Pillars of Truth party with half Chinese heritage, who served as the fourth president of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016. He won the election in ...

reappointed Onorio to a third consecutive term as Vice President on 19 January 2012, as part of his cabinet appointees. KiribatiParliamentHouse

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onorio, Teima 1963 births Living people Vice-presidents of Kiribati Members of the House of Assembly (Kiribati) Pillars of Truth politicians Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of the University of East Anglia 20th-century I-Kiribati women politicians 20th-century I-Kiribati politicians 21st-century I-Kiribati women politicians 21st-century I-Kiribati politicians Women vice presidents Women government ministers of Kiribati Education ministers of Kiribati Industry ministers of Kiribati Sports ministers of Kiribati Trade ministers of Kiribati Youth ministers of Kiribati