DevNet

17 hours ago

Check out the great research conducted by Erin Thomas,
Master's in Development Studies student from University of Auckland with the help of a New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Field Research Award, on "Gender-based Violence in Niue: Challenges and Opportunities in Assessing GBV in Small Pacific Islands"

Erin writes: "I had the honour and privilege of spending four weeks in Niue as a part of my master's fieldwork on gender-based violence. My previous work from 2017 was some of the first research done in Niue on the topic. This project was able to expand on that initial work and get more depth on the issue. I did 41 interviews including 14 family tree mapping interviews focused on making space for women's narratives of GBV incidents that occur in their families. I am grateful to the Department of Community Affairs, where I was based, as well as the members of the community who opened up to me. Personally, I will cherish this taoga forever and know that many others in the community and the government will appreciate their insights being shared. Oue tulou. Fakaaue lahi atu ki a mutolu oti." ... See MoreSee Less

DevNet

17 hours ago

Thanks to a Field Research Award from MFAT, Neill Ballantyne of Victoria University of Wellington, Master of International Development was able to do some great research on "Finding a Fale: a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project exploring the causes and solutions to housing insecurity for Tongan Leiti"

Neill writes: Malo e lelei, greetings from Tonga where I have sat down for one-on-one interviews with ‘participants’ and have recorded their stories using a mixed-methods approach. I have, however, spent much more time building relationships, attending social gatherings, exploring, and conversing informally through the PAR (Participatory Action Research) process. Building these intentional friendships has been invaluable to the success of the data collection and ensuring the project fulfils the aims which were co-designed with the co-researchers: The Tongan Leiti Association (see photo from co-design session)

These friendships and connections through the community have built trust and led to the ‘participants’ sharing stories and reflections with me that they have never told friends or family. They were stories of violence, discrimination, bullying and isolation. They were stories of resilience, success, hope and overcoming great challenges. ... See MoreSee Less