New Whaitua Mapping Tool And Monitoring Our Oranga Framework Places Health Information In Whānau Hands
'Our dual launch coincides with the end of Matariki season, a significant time for reflection and renewal, marking a collective commitment to creating healthier, safer communities for current and future generations,' said Hikitia Ropata, Āti Awa Toa Hauora Iwi Māori Partnership Board's Manahautū.
'We are indebted to the support of our mana whenua iwi, Te Āti Awa ki te Upoko a Māui, Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. With special thanks to the team at Āti Awa Toa FM.'
Whaitua is an online mapping tool that visualises critical information about whānau households and their communities across the social and economic determinants of health. This includes the prevalence of liquor stores, vape shops, fast food outlets, housing conditions, environmental degradation and healthcare access points. The platform equips whānau, iwi and communities with precise, local-level insights to help raise whānau voice and improve policies that impact upon our whānau.
The Whaitua Mapping Tool has been developed by the Āti Awa Toa Hauora Iwi Māori Partnership Board in collaboration with Te Tāhū Hauora (Health Quality & Safety Commission) and with early input from Te Karu o Te Ika Poari Hauora IMPB. The tool is presented with the collective support of all 17 IMPBs across Aotearoa, enabling iwi and communities to access and use this valuable data.
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'Our Whaitua: Flip the Facts' social media campaign begins today. We are inviting all whānau from our takiwā as well as whānau from across Aotearoa to jump online, see the data story of their own neighbourhood and challenge those things that need to change.'
Also launched today is Monitoring our Oranga: A Kaupapa Māori framework for collective learning and system transformation, designed to guide collective learning, monitoring, and advocacy efforts within Māori communities.
'Grounded in the constitutional promises of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and indigenous rights, our framework affirms tino rangatiratanga and requires kāwanatanga to protect it actively. Monitoring is a tool of mana motuhake - a way for whānau, hapū and iwi to ask and answer the questions that matter most to us, in our own ways.'
'Too often, Māori communities carry the blame for conditions we never created. These resources we launch today will help raise our whānau voices, allowing us to tell our own stories through our own data. It's about tino rangatiratanga and our right to self-determination and meaningful change.'
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