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Call for Covid-19 support for Auckland's Pasifika to come from those who know the community

August 14, 2020

John Fiso spoke to Breakfast about the Covid-19 situation in Auckland.

More support to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic is needed for Auckland's Pasifika community and it should come from agencies that know the community.

That's according to John Fiso of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation who told TVNZ1's Breakfast Pacific-orientated agencies should be leading the support.

A new cluster of community transmission was discovered in Auckland this week, with Auckland sent into Alert Level 3 lockdown to contain the spread, and the rest of New Zealand in Level 2.

Mr Fiso says it’s important to get ahead of the game with localised support for the Pasifika community in Auckland, as it's the “largest Pacific Island city in the world”.

“It’s actually getting the services back to the people...the spread is going to be reflective of our response,” says Mr Fiso.

“It requires a completely different strategy and what we have to do now is confront the fact that it’s in the community and make sure the services get directly to them.”

He says utilising “Pacific-orientated agencies” such as Pasifika Futures will get wrap-around services to the Pasifika community in Auckland.

Pasifika Futures is a Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency that works with regionally based providers and partners for Pacific families in New Zealand.

He says there are plenty of support groups. 

“The District Health Boards, they all have Pacific teams and we would much rather work with them because they again know who those communities are and know how to access them quickly.

“Then you’ve got all the Pacific providers and the NGOs so directly working with the Pacific is the way I see the way forward.”

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