Investment in Pacific People's Future and Place in the World
A report released on approaches to addressing family violence and violence against women has been described as an investment in Pacific people's future and their place in the global world within which Aotearoa New Zealand belongs.
The paper, published by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse, documents the learnings of implementing The Pacific Community's (SPC) Social Citizenship Education program which took place in more than 150 schools across Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Focusing on using cultural stories and legends indigenous to the Pacific region as a starting point for conversations, the program has four key strategies:
* Curriculum, learning and training
* Relationships involving community and student participation and school-led community outreach
* Governance including school policies and decision-making
* School environment including culture and extra-curricular activities.
At the launch of the paper, the SPC's Dr Paula Vivili said that while all the results and impacts of the program may not be seen in the project period, "or indeed in our lifetimes'', she said it was an investment "in our Pacific people's futures and global citizenry".
The paper will sit alongside the Pasifika Power & Control Wheel Translation Project Report, published by the US-based Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, which was released in 2021.
That report, which featured input from Samoan consultants, included recommendations on how communities can work to end gender-based violence.
It highlighted connection through dialogue and storytelling as an important practice in indigenous Pasifika communities.
RESOURCE DOWNLOADS
Pasefika Power & Control Wheel Translation Project Report 2021