A further 12 proposals totalling $15.7 million have been approved by Ministers through the Māori Communities COVID-19 Fund (MCCF) to build resilience and continue to support vaccination uptake.

The Ministers involved are Minister of Māori Development Willie Jackson, Associate Health (Māori Health) Minister Peeni Henare, Minister of Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis and Minister of Finance Grant Robertson

A total of $72.08 million, covering 85 contracts, was approved by Ministers in the final two months of 2021, with approximately $53 million already paid out to kaitono.

Since the fund was established, the Māori first dose vaccination rate has increased from 69 to 90 percent and the second dose rate from 49 to 86 percent for people 12 and older.

When the fund was originally established, $58.5 million (of a total $120 million) was allocated for vaccination support (not including $1.5m departmental expense).

High demand and opportunities identified by providers resulted in an additional $13.5 million reprioritised to support vaccination uptake, leaving $46.4 million to be allocated in Phase 2 to support short term resilience initiatives (up to 31 May 2022).

All proposals have been reviewed by the Senior Officials Group from Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Arawhiti and the Ministries of Health and Social Development. An Inter-Agency Panel of officials also ensured proposals complement the $204 million Care in the Community response.

What the contracts will fund

Contract amounts range from $138,000 to $4.8 million.

They focus on areas with low vaccination rates and high Māori populations in rural, isolated, and low socioeconomic areas. This includes whānau living in poverty, unemployed, without permanent housing, and needing support for mental health disorders.

They directly support whānau, hapū and hapori to build Covid Protection Framework (CPF) resilience enabling leadership within communities and tailoring support across a region to suit each community.

Services include education and awareness, staff safety, protecting whakapapa, community facilities and engagements and communications.

Each contract includes outcomes, deliverables, and measures for each activity, including identifying whānau with high needs and developing whānau plans.

They range from using marae and iwi properties to support their response, upskilling community members to become vaccinators, mobile vaccinations, vaccination events, incentives and developing material to target high-need groups such as specific age groups or gangs.

Future contracts

Following the allocation of this $15.7 million, MCCF agencies will recommend more proposals to Ministers for the remaining $30.5 million in the coming weeks.

Agencies are considering a large pipeline of proposals, some of which have been or will be scaled to fit the level of funding available and the need to complete the initiatives by 31 May 2022.

Funding is limited and not all proposals will be recommended for funding based on fund criteria, competing needs and priorities across the motu. These may be considered in future should fund settings or funding priorities change.

With the remaining fund putea the MCCF agencies will continue to target areas of high need, so encourage providers to talk to their regional agency contacts so proposals for the later tranches can be informed by local considerations.

© Scoop Media