Coco Talanoa — Coco News / Page 6

An esteemed list of Pasifika people from all sectors of Aotearoa have been honoured in this years New Years Honour awards roll out.

Community services, health, arts and media in particular saw lots of Pasifika representation this year.

Dr Apisalome Sikaidoka Talemaitoga who was recognised to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to health and the Pacific community says "I am proudest of the way we as a community of Pacific peoples showed that we respond to the health messages when it is delivered in a clinically and culturally competent way that respects our unique differences, uses our established infrastructures like chuches and kava clubs and uses our clinicians who are language competent also" of his achievement.…more

Watch a wrap-up of your week in news from across the Islands, in under a minute.

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Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

via Radio New Zealand 

Frank Bainimarama, left, and Sitiveni Rabuka Photo: AFP / RNZ / Koroi Hawkins

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The final results of the 2022 Fiji election are in.

The make-up of the new 55 seat parliament - according to the Fiji Elections Office results app - will be Fiji First with 26 seats, the People's Alliance Party with 21 seats, the National Federation Party with five seats and the Social Democratic Liberal Party with three seats.

In order to be able to form government 28 seats are needed.

This means that for the first time since the return of democracy to Fiji in 2014, Frank Bainimarama's dominant Fiji First Party has failed to secure the majority of seats to rule in parliament.

Bainimarama will now need to woo at least one of the three opposition party leaders to join him if he is to remain in power.…more

By Johnson Raela 

Nine Pacific young people were recognised as recipients of the 2022 Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards (PMPYA) at Parliament on Monday evening. 

The young people were rewarded for their outstanding achievements in several fields, including being advocates for their language and culture; for leadership and entrepreneurship; and for their efforts in the arts, education and the community.   

The awards were presented by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. 

To'e Lokeni, 17, from Porirua received the Business and Entrepreneurship award. Last year, To’e and his good friend Mannfred Sofara were the driving forces behind the website Fa’amalosi, designed to help people correctly pronounce Māori and Pasifika names.

In receiving the award To’e acknowledged his good friend Mannfred who has been pivotal in his business journey. 

“I mentioned Mannfred because he’s helped me a lot in business over the last two years and without his help and support I wouldn’t have been able to do all this, so he deserves as much credit for this as well,” he said.…more

COP27 in Egypt ended with one big win and many other disappointments.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference more commonly referred to as COP27, was the 27th UN Climate conference, held from 6 November until 20 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It gathered world leaders, national negotiators and civil society to discuss the state of our planet and plans to tackle the climate crisis.

The Pacific showed up strong to this year's COP27 with one of the priorities on the agenda being the establishment of a Loss & Damage fund. This has been something the region has been fighting for three decades for. 

One of the major wins this year was COP27 reaching an agreement on an outcome that established a funding mechanism to compensate vulnerable nations for ‘loss and damage’ from climate-induced disasters.…more

The Healthcare Professionals Club at Brigham Young University in Hawai'i teamed up with 'Be the Match' (a US national marrow donor program) and hosted Hawai'ian actor Jason Momoa last week.

Momoa is spear heading the 'Be the Match' campaign to get people to come out, swab their cheeks, and see if they have the right blood for others who are searching for their match.  He started advocating for this after learning his close friend Travis Snyder is battling acute myeloid leukemia and is in need of a blood stem cell transplant.

Hundreds came out to the university campus for a chance to meet Jason Momoa and see if they could potentially save a life.  The Aquaman star was greeted by students and the community at a bone marrow testing site.

In the photos below, he is holding a young Hawaiian boy named Ryder who is also in need of a blood cell stem transplant.…more

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A health emergency may have cost Tongan athlete Dame Valerie Adams her life, as documented in a movie about her life and career out next week.

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Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

The premiere for five-time Olympian, Kiwi icon, and Tongan leader Dame Valerie Adams film will take place at Sky City Theatre this evening (Wednesday 12th October) and to mark the occasion and the first time for a film, the Sky Tower will light up in gold.

Nirupa George, SkyCity Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, comments “Dame Valerie Adams is a New Zealand and Tongan icon, we are proud to be hosting the premiere of her documentary and it is a delight to be able to light the sky tower in gold in her honour as she celebrates her life story and career to date.”

Competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games required all the shot-putter’s determination and courage. At 36, following two major surgeries and the birth of her children, she was considered an ‘older’ athlete. Struggling to balance her role as a mum with her job as an elite sportsperson, Dame Valerie was forced to navigate emotions every mother will identify with. Woven around observational scenes of Dame Valerie’s journey to Tokyo, is her astonishing backstory.…more

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Happy Fijian Language Week - Macawa ni Vosa Vakaviti! This year's theme is "Nurture, Preserve and Sustain the Fijian language."

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Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

From left to right: Fa'amoana John Luafutu, Daren Kamali, Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka, Joshua Pearson, Dahlia Malaeulu, Troy Tu'ua, ONZM Fatu Feu'u & Ululau Ama

From visual arts, to theatre, to the art of ngatu tā‘uli (blackened tapa cloth) - eight Pasifika artists are being recognised for their contribution to Pacific arts through the Creative NZ Arts Pasifika Awards.  

"Contemporary Pasifika art, all our art, was contemporary - Western world claimed that abstract art belonged to them but all our arts - our dance, our language, our cultures, are all abstract.  We did not paint portraits or landscapes we paint colours to represent something especially the black tapa it's an art of power" - Kulimoe’anga “Stone” Maka

"Through my arts I can connect back to the islands and that's what's kept me alive and kept my Pasifika heritage, and belief alive"  Daren Kamali

"A bit of advice to our community - is to support the God Given talents of our children as opposed to saying 'get a real job''  Fa'amoana John Luafutu

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While there are usually seven award winners, this year…more