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The Office of the Public Service Commissioner (OPSC) with Te Puna Vai Marama | The Cook Islands Centre for Research is carrying out a community satisfaction survey on public services provided by Government Agencies.
With the Cook Islands Public Sector Strategy 2016-2024 nearing the end of its term, in order to understand the extent to which the public sector has attained the goals of the strategy, it is important to collect data to measure satisfaction of the Cook Islands community.
Te Puna Vai Marama are aiming to survey at least 970 Cook Islands Residents, 18 years and over. These surveys are being conducted both in-person on portable tablets, and online via Survey Monkey. Following demographic questions based on the 2016 Census, the survey asks about satisfaction and expectations of up to three services a participant has used in the last year.
Data collection for this project is now complete, and the research team are commencing with analysis. Results will be released to the public in due time and will be accessible through our website.
In November 2020, the World Health Organization launched a Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Almost all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV), and HPV vaccination together with secondary prevention approaches (screening for and treating precancerous lesions) will prevent most cervical cancer cases. When diagnosed, cervical cancer can be one of the most successfully treatable forms of cancer, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.
The Pacific Islands Forum in 2015 identified cervical cancer as one of the top three regional priorities. While the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have some of the elements of cervical cancer elimination and/or control, few have integrated comprehensive and organized programmes, and each country faces unique challenges in moving towards the elimination of cervical cancer. While issues in achieving cervical cancer elimination are specific to each country, there is an agreed need for documented governance to synchronise the different programmes’ contributions and activities towards this goal by 2030.
This project will research and develop evidence-based policies/plans/strategies that support the elimination of cervical cancer within four Pacific Islands countries and territories: Republic of the Marshall Islands; Samoa; Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. These outputs will be developed through the collaborative efforts of the stakeholders, technical assistance consultants (Te Puna Vai Marama) and UNFPA.
The overall objectives of the in-depth gender assessment were to:
1) Identify the gendered nature of access to climate services and information, barriers and opportunities in five Pacific countries
2) Identify opportunities and recommend strategies for gender inclusivity in partner national institutions’ organisational and decision-making processes, frameworks for climate services, relevant national policies, climate services, systems, strategies, protocols
3) Recommend concrete actions with associated indicators, baselines and targets to operationalise the gender-responsive entry points identified in the programme Gender Action Plan
4) Identify existing women’s groups and community networks that could support the active engagement of women and other marginalised groups in community-based interventions.
In order to assess knowledge and use of climate and weather information and services, we decided to undertake a community cross-sectional purposive survey of men and women aged 18 years and over on their knowledge of climate services in Rarotonga.
Data was collected face-to-face at sites in Avarua in order to reach the largest number of respondents.
291 people completed the survey, 177 women and 114 men.
The questionnaire was designed to collect information on:
- demographics
- ownership of telephone (landline, basic mobile phone, smartphone); radio; TV; computer/internet
- knowledge about climate services and early warning systems
- the use of services, including climate and weather information, watches and warnings
- any dependents in the event of a weather/climate emergency
- the importance of access to real-time weather information
- how respondents would like to receive climate information and early warnings in the future
- recent experiences of a climate event
The Cook Islands is embarking on an exciting journey in its development history. Following on from the endorsement of the NSDA 2020+ in December 2021 the work around wellbeing for life and incorporating wellbeing into the lifecourse has started.
Turanga Memeitaki no to tatou ora’anga- Wellbeing 4 Life project is a systematic initiative to create and support wellbeing for the Cook Islands people. It focuses on the supportive development of people through turanga memeitaki -wellbeing, using interventions at different stages in their lifetime as a guideline.
As such, the Turanga Memeitaki no to tatou ora’anga -Wellbeing 4 Life approach needs sound research done to provide an evidence base to inform the implementation of the legacy plan.
The objective of the project is to:
1. Create a plan to implement Wellbeing 4 Life
2. Get our metrics for wellbeing as a source of growth established which will feed into economic development growth metrics for the country
3. Look to mainstream wellbeing, with possible structural arrangements.
Te Puna Vai Marama will produce 3 outputs in relation to these objectives:
1. A literature review, focusing on Pacific and indigenous conceptualisations and models of wellbeing that could be utilised in the Cook Islands.
2. A literature review on possible fit-for-purpose wellbeing metrics.
3. A literature review on means of mainstreaming turanga memeitaki, which may draw on lessons from gender and climate mainstreaming mechanisms.
The Pacific Islands Forum in 2015 identified cervical cancer as one of the top three regional priorities. While the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have some of the elements of cervical cancer elimination and/or control, few have integrated comprehensive and organized programmes, and each country faces unique challenges in moving towards the elimination of cervical cancer. While issues in achieving cervical cancer elimination are specific to each country, there is an agreed need for documented governance to synchronise the different programmes’ contributions and activities towards this goal by 2030.