Global conference timely for Pacific peoples
Sione Tu’itahi is all too aware of the effects of climate change in the Pacific.
Hailing from Tonga where the effects of sea level rise and extensive coastal inundation are evident Mr Tu’itahi knows
first-hand the toll environmental degradation can take on the lives of people.
“The Pacific region is where climate change is most pronounced,” says Mr Tu’itahi, who is the Executive Director of the
Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand (HPF) and co-chair of a world health promotion conference in New Zealand next year
where climate change will be a focal issue for discussion.
“Eroding and sinking islands, sea level-rise because of global warming, tsunamis, cyclones, and people having to migrate
from their homelands because of these disasters. Clearly, the environment is one of the major determinants of our health
and wellbeing,” says Mr Tu’itahi who is the first Pacific person to take the helm of HPF.
This is one of the reasons Mr Tu’itahi pushed so hard to successfully bring the 23rd IUHPE World Conference on Health
Promotion to New Zealand.
Now with only months to go until the conference, which is co-hosted by HPF launches in Rotorua from April 7-11, 2019 Mr
Tu’itahi is encouraging organisations and individuals in the Pacific and Pasifika peoples in NZ to attend this major
global event.
He believes it is timely and propitious to have this conversation about climate change in our region so that health
promoters, health workers, policy makers and other professionals whose work impacts on people’s health and wellbeing can
come together to share experience and explore solutions.
The conference has as its over-arching theme “Waiora: Promoting Planetary Health and Sustainable Development for All,”
and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the framework.
It will be says Mr Tu’itahi a “rare opportunity for those whose work impacts directly on health and wellbeing, to share
knowledge with colleagues from around the world, and to co-construct health-promoting pathways into the future”.
Mr Tu’itahi learned early on in Tonga that health and education are two important and related determinants of the
wellbeing and prosperity of Pacific peoples.
His formative years were shaped through his family experience, especially from his grandparents and parents.
“They were humble folk from humble beginnings, but education, being prudent, hard work and serving others were central
values and goals.
“Good education means not only you are enlightened, but you also have a decent income which enables you to afford a
healthy life, and be in control of your future,” he says.
Mr Tu’itahi has certainly practised what he preaches with a career as distinguished as it is varied. He worked as a
journalist in Tonga and the Pacific, before being retrained as a teacher. He taught at tertiary educational institutions
in New Zealand before deciding to work in health.
“My mass communication, teaching, and strategic capacity-building experience were very handy when I was invited to set
up a Pacific team at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service some 20 years ago. At the time I was starting to build
the Pacific capacity of Massey University.
“I saw the invitation as an opportunity to do the same strategic work for Pacific peoples in the health sector as well.
I was later seconded to build the Pacific capacity of HPF, which led to where I am today.”
Although Mr Tu’itahi started planning the conference in 2016, he has been involved with IUHPE for more than 10 years and
was the first Indigenous person from the Pacific to be a member of the IUHPE Global Executive Board, and Vice President
of IUHPE for the South West-Pacific region, a post he held for six years.
He admits it is a huge and challenging responsibility to lead HPF, a national non-governmental organisation with more
than 100 members. HPF works with sister organisations such as the Public Health Association, the College of Public
Health Medicine, universities and polytechs, and many Iwi-based organisations to advocate for health and wellbeing
through health promotion.
“But it is a great opportunity and privilege to serve society, and to inspire, not just Pacific colleagues and fellow
Indigenous co-workers from around the world, but also, and more importantly, to make a difference for the wellbeing of
all at both national and global levels.
“Poor health means poor educational achievement. That vicious cycle will continue with succeeding generations, unless
you change it through education. When you transform a generation through education, you have set up a new blueprint and
pathway and have inculcated a new culture for the succeeding generations.
“And that virtuous cycle can continue for many generations to come. That is why I decided to broaden my professional
experience from education into health promotion and public health.”
The indigenous focus of the conference is also something Mr Tu’itahi wants to highlight.
He is thrilled that for the first time Te Reo Maori will be one of the official languages, alongside English, Spanish
and French, at a global conference. Indigenous speakers also feature prominently.
“New Zealand is a world leader in Indigenous knowledge and health promotion. Indigenous knowledge systems are now being
acknowledged as contributors of solutions to world problems. We can share our experience with the rest of the world, and
we can learn from their experience too.
“It might be a small step, but to have an indigenous language as one of the official languages of a world conference is
a giant step for indigenous human rights. It is also a most empowering message to indigenous peoples and ethnic
minorities in terms of championing their rights, their wellbeing, and preserving their knowledge systems through
preserving their languages.”
Go to www.iuhpe2019.com to find out more about the conference and to register. Also check out hauora.co.nz