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Source: University of Waikato

New research by the University of Waikato has found that women will play a central role in how resilient Tonga and Samoa will be to the impacts of climate change.

The research, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), is charged with providing a picture of the future of climate change mobility – including how many people may move within their country or overseas, how and where they may move and how they may be impacted. In the process, the research has revealed how the lives of women in Tonga and Samoa have already changed because of existing mobility and what it could mean for the future resilience of the Pacific to climate change.

University of Waikato research lead Lora Vaioleti says it’s critical we understand what is happening in the Pacific and what issues already exist to understand what the future of climate change mobility could look like and its impacts.

“While New Zealand has benefited from having Pacific peoples coming to work here on seasonal programmes, we know it has changed the social fabric in places like Tonga and Samoa. As young men in particular travel overseas for long periods of time, the women who remain behind must bear heavier responsibilities in the home and community, including facing the worsening impacts of climate change.”

The research has engaged over 800 people so far, including female leaders of villages, academia, business and government, with many saying women are taking on new responsibilities such as physical work in the plantations, technical work in electrical infrastructure, captaining ferries and large container ships, and setting up new disaster preparedness groups – all roles that men traditionally carried out. In addition, women continue to fulfil their more traditional roles, taking care of the well-being of the extended family, practising and passing on cultural knowledge and running village development programs through women’s committees.

While a lot of women acknowledged that these changes have offered a new level of economic resilience for some, there has been a deep emotional and spiritual toll on individual women.

“With many men overseas for extended periods we are told that family break ups are more and more common and mothers with young children are being left without any financial or social support. Tragic stories of these women’s struggles were shared with us, including reports of some taking their lives as a result. As the CEO of the Ministry for Women, Community and Social Development in Samoa said, ‘no one is supporting our women,’”  says Ms Vaioleti.

The research team, Ms Vaioleti says, believes that countries like New Zealand need to better recognise the negative impacts of seasonal work programmes in the Pacific and how that will affect the future resilience of communities.

“Climate change will further strain an already tested Pacific population. It will accentuate existing social, cultural and economic challenges and create further impetus for mobility. We need to do more to address the harm already caused and invest in those who are working overtime to keep the ship steady in places like Tonga and Samoa – the women.”

This research is part of a wider study that seeks to understand the future of climate change mobility in the Pacific. The University of Waikato research team, including Professor Sandy Morrison, Dr Timote Vaioleti and Lora Vaioleti, are leading research and engagement in Tonga and Samoa, with several research outputs already completed and more to be released in the coming months.

The wider study also includes researchers from the University of Auckland and Mana Pacific Consulting.

A research product dedicated to women and mobility will be available publicly in late May 2024.

Source: University of Waikato

Source: University of Waikato

Source: University of Waikato

New research by the University of Waikato has started important conversations with tangata whenua around the Pacific climate crisis and the readiness of Aotearoa to host and protect the rights of Pacific people impacted by worsening climate change.

The research, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), includes kōrero with six esteemed Māori leaders to explore their thinking on the future of Pacific climate change mobility and Aotearoa.

Professor of Māori and Indigenous Studies, Sandy Morrison (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rārua), says the six kōrero collectively represent a unique start to a critical conversation.

“We know that Pacific peoples will be increasingly impacted by climate change, which may lead to higher levels of mobility. As Māori, we have many connections with our Pacific whānau, including shared whakapapa and trade partnerships. How can we respond to this important issue?

Due to proximity and the presence of family members already here, if climate change makes living in the Pacific too hard or too dangerous, Aotearoa will be a natural destination for many, particularly those coming from close nations like Tonga and Samoa. How can we better prepare our people, infrastructure, and services for this possible future? Importantly, what opportunities could we explore that could benefit all?”

Leaders within the study agreed that this was a crucial conversation, and further discussion and planning is needed, particularly between Māori, the Crown and Pacific peoples.

“Māori are well-positioned to support people in the Pacific, and the Crown cannot simply come to Māori with proposals on actions in this space. Māori should also work directly with Pacific leaders and people to identify their aspirations,” adds Professor Morrison.

Land rights activist, treaty negotiator and Director at Wakatū Inc, Rore Stafford, ONZM offered a values-based approach to the topic, and empathised with the pain Pacific peoples will likely face in future following dislocation from their lands.

“We don’t have a treaty with Pacific peoples, but we have whakapapa together and shared values. How do we manaaki people when they have had to move from their whenua, when they are suffering. We must be open to listening to what they need – they have their own mana. We must go back to all our values and our tikanga”.

One leader raised concerns about Pacific peoples vacating the Pacific and who may take their place, also highlighting risks to Pacific sovereignty and cultural and historical loss for those that may resettle in Aotearoa, noting that New Zealand has not been good at creating space for different cultures.

A number of the leaders saw their role as advocates for Pacific peoples, including providing practical support for housing, employment and business ownership. Iwi leader, Ngāhiwi Tomoana spoke on the need for a dramatic shift in Aotearoa New Zealand’s approach to the Pacific.

“The focus needs to shift from aid to supporting economic development so that when people eventually come to Aotearoa, they can develop their own economy, have their own developments, their own training and their own reason for being.”

The University of Waikato research team, including Professor Sandy Morrison, Dr Timote Vaioleti and Lora Vaioleti, are leading research and engagement in Tonga and Samoa, with several research outputs already completed and more to be released in the coming months.

The wider study also includes researchers from the University of Auckland and Mana Pacific Consulting and seeks to understand future climate change mobility in the Pacific.

Read the research here.

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Source: University of Waikato

Aotearoa New Zealand ranks among the highest in youth suicide rates among OECD countries – and it is Māori youth at the forefront of this national crisis.

Recent statistics show the number of suspected self-inflicted deaths for Māori males is nearly double the rate for non-Māori males. The rate for Māori females is around 1.8 times higher than the rate for non-Māori females.

The alarming discrepancy is most notable in the 15-24 age group, where the rate for Māori is about 2.6 times higher than for non-Māori.

Despite these concerning figures, there is no express right to health in New Zealand law, creating a gap in accountability. And by failing to ensure the health and wellbeing of young Māori, Aotearoa New Zealand is falling short of its international obligations.

Progress and retreat

Over the past five years, the government has taken some steps to tackle the country’s mental health crisis. But the priorities of the new government could threaten this already limited progress.

In 2019, NZ$2 billion was injected into the mental health system by the then Labour government. And the Mental Health Commission was established in 2021 with the aim of contributing to better and equitable mental health and wellbeing outcomes for all people.

Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, was established under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. But while the new coalition government has announced the country’s first ever minister for mental health, it has also announced plans to scrap the authority.

The Under One Umbrella report, published by the cross-party Mental Health and Addiction Wellbeing Group, presents a comprehensive, integrated approach to mental health, alcohol and addiction for young people. Significantly, it advocates for a holistic “all-of-government” approach.

Submissions from a recent review of the Mental Health Act show strong support for the new legislation to uphold rights in alignment with international conventions, with more focus on tangata whaiora (someone seeking health) and whānau (extended family).

Although these initiatives and pending legislative reform represent a step in the right direction, the statistics related to youth mental health are still cause for concern.

International responsibilities to ensure health

One strategy to address the national mental health crisis for Māori youth would be to embed the human right to health in local policy and law. This would also bring Aotearoa New Zealand’s legislation into line with its international obligations.

In 1946, the World Health Organization adopted a broad definition of health:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, cultural and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Over the course of the next two decades, health was conceived as a human right (in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and later in the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights).

The International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also obliged countries to eliminate race discrimination in public health and medical care.

For children, the right to health is further recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. And, specifically for Indigenous communities, in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007.

It is well established within international law that the right to health for Indigenous children and youth is linked to their distinct cultural, social and customary practices.

And various UN groups have repeatedly emphasised that Indigenous people have the right to receive culturally appropriate healthcare services that respect their traditional practices and medicines.

These groups have also urged countries to provide Indigenous communities with the necessary resources to design, deliver and control their own healthcare services.

The need for a legal framework

Aotearoa New Zealand is bound by these international agreements, and the rights and obligations that flow from them. Yet the right to health does not appear in our laws, which leaves a void in accountability and enforcement.

This hinders the implementation of effective health policies for tamariki and rangatahi Māori (children and young people), particularly as it limits the legal avenues available for recourse when the system fails.

The disparities in mental health outcomes point to an immediate national challenge facing Aotearoa New Zealand, which is to formulate an effective mental healthcare framework.

The most appropriate starting point is to include the right to health in national policy and legislation. This would align New Zealand’s national policies and laws with international norms.

It would also mandate the government to take active steps to ensure that the highest attainable standards of mental health and wellbeing for tamariki and rangtahi Māori are met.

Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of Waikato; Robert Joseph, Associate Professor of Law, University of Waikato, and Thilini Karunaratne, PhD candidate/ Lawyer, University of Waikato

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.