National Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2026 | Atafu Tokelau Community Group

Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National
Strategic Plan 2022–2026

‘Ko te kaukāiga e inu ki te mata o te hua e fokotahi’

The family that drinks from the same eye of the coconut, remains connected and united

The aim of the Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan is to develop a five-year strategic outlook that will inform regional action plans to achieve thriving, harmonious and resilient Tokelau families. This is an opportunity for Tokelau to lead and determine cultural solutions for kāiga wellbeing by ensuring the voices of Tokelau Aotearoa-New Zealand are at the heart of this strategy.

This project is supported by the Ministry of Social Development, Pasefika Proud, which initiated the development of community-led ethnic wellbeing plans with a view to applying ‘strengths-based approaches’ and ‘promoting protective factors that keep families strong, safe and well’.

The Tokelau Wellington Leadership Group was approached to initiate this work and sought the commitment of three atoll organisations: Te Kāiga Fakaofo i Ueligitone Incorporated, Nukunonu Tokelau Wellington Society Incorporated and the Atafu Tokelau Community Group (ATCG). ATCG was asked to lead this project for the benefit of Tokelau communities in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

With the goal in mind, a project working group was established to facilitate the development and formulation of a Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan 2022–2026. Representation on the project team was mandated by the three village organisations, coupled with the skills and cultural expertise required to deliver on the strategy. The work was explicitly and collectively led, delivered and written by Tokelau for Tokelau. To align the work with the above Tokelau proverb, we enacted the process metaphorically in taking sustenance from the same eye of the coconut to enable through collaboration and unity, a positive outcome.

As this was a national, collective effort, we engaged directly with each of the Tokelau regional leaders and their executives in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hutt Valley, Manawatū, Taupō, Porirua and Rotorua, and received their regional and national support for this project. We were inspired by the interest from Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru and Invercargill; while the number of families was small, we welcomed their enthusiasm and input.

We have come together as Tokelau Aotearoa-New Zealand to give visibility, value and voice to our perspective of wellbeing, which is anchored holistically in kāiga – family. We as Tokelau must continue to raise a national consciousness of kāiga-centred approaches to wellbeing by ensuring that the sacred and ancestral roles and duty of collective care are revitalised and preserved.

We are delighted to present our collective Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan as a national and historical milestone, where a Tokelau cultural lens of wellbeing is explicit and collective.

A PDF copy of the report is available below to read online. Videos of the Launch Event and a Media Interview are also available on this page.

Photo: Elders and dignitaries at the official launch of the Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan 2022–2026 in Porirua on 29 October 2022.

Foreword - Kupu Tomua

E tu kita i Vagā, ni tino, ni tino, ni tino.

Hēavea mua ia Kāhina o fēnua, auā e patino lava i Nānavea.

Hēavea mua ia tapu o fēnua, i ona palega ma ona tōkaga.

Hēavea mua ia Aliki o fēnua, i ana hāelega i ala o pāpae.

Hēavea mua ia uluniu o fēnua i ona kōhiga, ma ona tūtaga i muliālakita.

E tomua lava te inati o te Atua. E ōpoia ai ma patipatia te tatou fākafetai.

Kua ake te faiva, ma kua kokou ai nei ia liu o vaka, mo he inati, mo fanau ma kāiga

Tokelau, ke maua he ola fiafia, ola hātala, ola manuia, ma ola mālolo

We acknowledge first and foremost our Heavenly Father for the continued blessings upon this project, the many people involved and the future ambitions that will follow this work.

We also pay tribute to the elders and leaders of the past who paved the way for Tokelau people to establish themselves here in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

We are very proud of this historical achievement, publishing the first national plan for Kāiga Tokelau in Aotearoa-New Zealand. We are even more humbled by such an endeavour because it was led, developed and written by Tokelau, with the voices of kāiga as the beacon of light.

Despite 2020 being a challenging year with a global pandemic, we are sincerely grateful to our Tokelau communities for their unwavering support, and commitment to delivering kāiga summits from Auckland to Dunedin over a period of a month.

It was an imperative that all Tokelau regions were engaged in this project. We have been inspired by a desire to mobilise national support and this collective effort to ensure the voices of Tokelau families are at the heart of any government ambitions for Pacific wellbeing.

Thank you to the Tokelau Wellington Leadership Group for lending support, with the Ministry of Social Development, Pasefika Proud team, to secure this contract for the benefit of all Tokelau – particularly for fulfilling the governance and financial stewardship duties of the project, which enabled the team to implement key deliverables efficiently.

We are indebted to our Tokelau elders and leaders of our New Zealand communities, namely Alefosio Tufala (Auckland Tokelau Society Incorporated), Hitolo Pakome (Tokelau Taupō Community), Himona Apete and Tauhehe Iona (Tokelau Rotorua Community), Joe Patelesio (Tokelau Manawatū Community), Tenise Atoni (Atafu Tokelau Community Group), Uili Galo (Te Kāiga Fakaofo Tokelau i Ueligitone), Peato Mateo (Nukunonu Tokelau Society Wellington), Ege Joseph and Ana Tuia-Pereira (Te Umiumiga a Tokelau Hutt Valley), Ake Pereira and Vaka Lemisio (Tokelau Hutt Valley Sports and Culture), Aleki Patelesio (Mafutaga Tupulaga Tokelau Porirua), Tala Kele and Mele Leatuavao (Tokelau Christchurch and Ashburton Community), Hiliako Iaheto (Tokelau Dunedin Community), Olivia Malama and Fuatai Pelesa (Timaru Tokelau Community), Ana Perkins and Maleta Malaki (Oāmaru Tokelau Community) and Sapphire and Solomon Salesa (Invercargill Tokelau Community).

Most importantly, we dedicate this plan to our Tokelau legacy elders and leaders of the past who laid the foundation for us, the inter-generational leaders of today and the young people of tomorrow who will take Tokelau towards the future. May this work inspire you to carry the light of hope for the vision of this plan. Te Kāiga Tokelau ke ola manuia ma fiafia – every day and everywhere. Ke fakamanuia e Te Atua ia Tokelau

Reverend Elder Tui Sopoaga

Chair – Tokelau Wellington Leadership Group

Strategic Plan Launch (2022)

The Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan 2022–2026 was officially launched during Tokelau Language Week 2022 celebrations on 29 October at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.

Filmed live by Facebook page Te Mana.

Executive Summary

‘Toku kāiga, he kānava, he fau e hē uia’

My community, my heritage, a gift that is forever treasured

The Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan 2022–2026 was informed by a National Summit of conversations in seven regions from 31 October to 9 December 2020. The summit involved engaging with approximately 435 people who attended in February 2020 and delivery of a community-endorsed plan in August 2021.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19 redirecting our efforts and energy towards family and community support, the development of the plan was paused and reinstated in March 2022. It has been a legacy effort driven by a genuine desire to contribute and futureproof Tokelau’s voice and visibility in New Zealand’s Pacific wellbeing investment for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Strategic Intentions

It was critical that the project team honoured the indigenous knowledge and understanding of kāiga Tokelau, in the context of Tokelau people themselves and also in the Aotearoa-New Zealand context to ensure it was appropriately applied to the strategic framework developed. The findings of the summits, with the thematic priority areas and inter-generational conversations, informed the vision statement and value principles reflected below in our Strategic Intentions table. Our strategic framework reflects the Tokelau worldview – for families to live lives of happiness, in harmony with each other and with humility.

Our mission as a collective is to empower Pacific communities, government agencies, regional service providers and community development funders, (who wish to engage with Tokelau people, their families and their communities), to create opportunities through a kāiga-centred and cultural lens of support, service delivery and solutions.

Cultural Wisdoms

Through the analysis and development of the strategic intentions and goals, we identified the core Tokelau cultural wisdoms from the summit conversations. This has shaped a better understanding of Tokelau’s vision of success in Aotearoa-New Zealand:

At the heart of Tokelau wellbeing is kāiga; family and kinship are the cornerstones of Tokelau society and culture.
Faith and spirituality within kāiga wellbeing still hold places of importance for Tokelau families, whether they are active members of churches or faiths or not.
The Tokelau cultural lens of family wellbeing is anchored in a holistic perspective of wellbeing – spiritually, socially, mentally, physically and culturally.
To prioritise life-long learning opportunities for children, youth and young adults so that educational achievement, employment stability, access to meaningful career pathways and skills training is accelerated.
Tokelau’s heritage, culture, language and values are the ancestral haven for its people, families and communities to live full lives of joy and contentedness.
Te va o mātua ma fanau (the sacred connection to and relationship between parents and children) is an instrumental part of family wellbeing.
Tokelau families in peaceful and harmonious relationships and living in happiness is an important standard of living and wellbeing.

Priority Ambition Areas

The Tokelau Aotearoa-New Zealand community offers five priority ambition areas as part of our Strategic Intentions. These are both interdependent and intervention areas that will enable and achieve positive kāiga wellbeing outcomes:

Ambition for Family: To prioritise, across all generations, a duty-of-care principle for family wellbeing
Ambition for Culture: To urgently revitalise, nurture and promote Tokelau language, cultural identity, values and heritage arts as critical parts of family wellbeing.
Ambition for Education and Employment: To accelerate and lift educational achievement, employment stability and upskilling opportunities for Tokelau families through collective efforts.
Ambition for Faith: To affirm the importance of faith, spiritual beliefs and values as essential parts of family wellbeing.
Ambition for Health and Housing: To optimise the critical importance of housing and health through a Tokelau cultural lens on the holistic wellbeing of family.

To achieve the vision and ambitions, as a national community of distinct regional and organisational groups, it is our hope that we will revitalise the importance of kāiga to achieve Tokelau’s wellbeing and prosperity. Kāiga Tokelau therefore, is the foundation stone for manifesting Tokelau Aotearoa-New Zealand’s wellbeing outcomes.

Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan

A full PDF copy of the strategic plan is available for you to read.

Media Interview (2022)

President of the Atafu Tokelau Community Group Les Atoni talked with Agnes Tupou on the Radio 531pi "Pacific Mornings with Aggie" show about the launch of the Kāiga Tokelau Wellbeing National Strategic Plan, developed with support from the Ministry of Social Development.