Many NFP’s will have a commitment to ensuring they address the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles or articles in the way they develop and deliver services to Māori. Many government departments require in their contracts that providers do this and to support them, may provide tools and guidelines to support this approach. CDNZ is committed to working to support organisations with this area of development, through utilisation of good practice guidelines and tools.
The Whānau Ora Tool published by the Ministry of Health (2008) is one example:
“The Whānau Ora Tool is a guide to developing health programmes where whanau, hapu, iwi and Māori communities play a leading role in achieving whanau ora. It places Māori at the centre of programme planning, implementation and evaluation.”
“Whānau Ora is a whole of organisation responsibility, not just that of Māori staff. For this to succeed, commitment from the most senior levels of management is critical.”
This tool is primarily aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of mainstream organisations to positively contribute towards improving Māori health outcomes. Whilst this tool has been developed with health outcomes in mind the approach is just as applicable to social service and related organisations.
This tool, like others, offers a step by step approach to reviewing an organisation’s commitment and activity related to the provision of services to meet the needs of Māori. As a guide, using such tools as part of reviewing organisational needs, strategy and services and working to improve service quality, is a positive approach that can be integrated with whole organisation planning and review processes.
Each organisation will need to work with its board and staff to reflect on its history, its previous and current approaches to addressing the needs of Māori and then create a plan for any improvements for the future. Seeking advice from organisational leaders, Kaumatua and Kuia, at governance and operational levels will be an important process. Depending on the organisational model, external advice may be needed to support this approach.
