Pacific citizens: Though 50 years ago there was not much contact ...

Pacific Cooperation Foundation: Just as the Asia 2000 Foundation was ...

Tackling Pacific Island problems from within the Parliament: Strategic thinking about ...

The agenda: THEN: Social issues were important ...

Improving partnership: There is a need to revive the Pacific Islands ...

Tackling blindness among Pacific peoples: Tongan public health specialist ...

HIV AIDS - moral and medical solutions: Public health and other policy planners...

Tongan job solution: Managed employment is a Tongan New Zealander's private ...

The new tertiary landscape - what's in it for Pacific peoples?: Education is ...

Making good citizens: In our Pacific region, and elsewhere in the world ...

Involving Pacific peoples in local decisionmaking: The question all New Zealand ...

Tangata Pasifika? Michael Powles, who has worked ...

Endorsing good governance: Former New Zealand career diplomat Gordon Schroff ...

Need not be conflict: Issues in Pacific governance - where one size does not ...

Cooperation wins: Greater regional cooperation on common issues might ...

APEC and PECC: Though New Zealand seeks to be a good international ...

Advocacy on market access: The Pacific Islands Trade and Investment ...

Being Pa'alagi: The Being Pa'alagi programme, in which I looked back ...

Collaboration key to achieving vision: The vision of the Ministry of ...

Talk to all pacific cultures with one voice:
Ethnic Communications

Collaboration key to achieving vision

The vision of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs is 'achieving social and economic prosperity for Pacific peoples'. It aims to do this by being the leader in public policy advice to Government to improve outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand, in line with the Government’s objectives. It is a challenge which the Ministry is dedicated to meeting.

Achieving Pacific aspirations

For the past three years, the Ministry has successfully coordinated the wider state sector in the Government’s Pacific Capacity Building strategy, an approach aimed at reducing the inequalities experienced by Pacific peoples in health, educational attainment, housing and employment.

" The Ministry has been a prominent leader in the Public Service in Pacific and agency collaboration. Its innovative successes in its approach to implementing the Government's Pacific Capacity Building strategy and the Ministry’s earlier Pacific Vision Strategy are testimony to this,” says Ministry chief executive Fuimaono Les McCarthy.

“ To be effective as a small agency, the Ministry must work collaboratively with Pacific communities and other government agencies across all government sectors, to support their efforts in helping Pacific peoples to succeed in achieving their aspirations.

“ The Ministry will continue to foster those cross-sectoral initiatives that will yield the greatest benefits for Pacific peoples” says Fuimaono.

Increasing responsiveness

Pacific Capacity Building has been a catalyst in increasing the responsiveness of departments to Pacific needs and aspirations. This can be seen through an increasing number of government agencies that have developed Pacific strategies, programmes and services targeting Pacific peoples.
The challenge for the Ministry is how to ensure that progress for Pacific peoples is real, sufficient and aligned with Government undertakings to Pacific communities. To this end, the Ministry will be improving both upon its monitoring capacity and its capacity to report on achievements across government agencies to inform public policy development on issues that have a significant impact on Pacific peoples.

Future focus

The Ministry is an agency that works to address current issues but it is also firmly focused on the future and developing pathways for Pacific peoples to achieve social and economic self-sufficiency.

“ Our aim is not just to improve the social and economic lot of Pacific peoples in New Zealand but to facilitate their journey to full economic equality with their fellow New Zealanders,” says Fuimaono.

“ This is a long-term goal but one which requires action now if its attainment is to become more than wishful thinking. Meaningful collaboration with Pacific communities and agencies will be the key to innovative progress towards economic equality.”

In its first Statement of Intent, the Ministry outlines how it intends to realise these outcomes by working with other government agencies to achieve these outcomes:

reducing barriers to, and constraints on, Pacific peoples’ social and economic participation
supporting Government programmes, policies and strategies that promote Pacific peoples’ social and economic participation and see that these efforts are effectively communicated to Pacific communities and
increasing involvement and visibility of Pacific peoples in higher-level decision-making areas that are critical to Pacific peoples.

These goals signify Pacific peoples' commitment to being active partic-ipants in building New Zealand’s future. They focus on outcomes and imply a reliance on collaboration with Pacific communities and with the wider government agency community for their ultimate success.

The Ministry has played and will continue to play a significant role in ensuring that this collaboration takes place for the benefit of Pacific peoples and all New Zealanders.

Find out more!

Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 833, Wellington
Tel: (04) 473 4493
Fax: (04) 473 4301
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.minpac.govt.nz

Published 3rd qtr, 2003

Fuimaono Les McCarthy, chief executive, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs

Affiliated programs Sitemap Privacy Accessibility Terms of use

Search powered by

Copyright © 2006 Asia Pacific Economic News Ltd. All rights reserved. Users of the Guide are free to make copies or entire pages for personal or educational use, but not for commercial purposes. Copies of individual photos or ilustrations may not be made without the permission of the copyright holders. Use of this website signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use.