Funding for Māori welcomed in cyclone response
By Sue McCabe, Chief Executive, Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa
The $15m in Government funding to support the Māori response to Cyclone Gabrielle was welcomed at a meeting of philanthropic funders and grantmakers today.
Local funders know the critical role iwi and hapu play in supporting Māori and the wider community after the weather events; and also the physical impact of the current flooding and cyclone on marae and the whenua (land).
This funding is for short-term relief and will be administered by Te Puni Kōkiri; Te Arawhiti and Whānau Ora.
Today’s gathering of philanthropic and grantmaking funders updated on the situation and their funding activity in Auckland, Tairāwhiti/Gisborne and the Hawke’s Bay. The updates feel in sharp contrast to the minimal national media coverage now being devoted to the situation by key news channels. Key points were:
Parts of these communities are still in crisis, with limited access via roads and ongoing bad weather causing more surface flooding and new slips.
Access to communities is still limited (and in some areas still cut off); volunteers are fatigued; and the mental health issues are starting to show.
Set against this is the resilience of the communities, particularly those with strong connections or who operate collectively.
Significant generosity continues to flow from the public, corporates, philanthropy and grantmaking and also the various Government support packages.
While some areas are still in crisis, other impacted parts are starting to move into a recovery phase, requiring different types of assistance. Emergency management and funders are needing to cater for the different situations and stages.
Given the considerable money available and being raised the philanthropic and grantmaking funders also talked about the work to connect in with Government funding sources and public appeals to help ensure coordination around distribution.
The focus of these weekly sessions, coordinated by Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa (PNZ) is more on the immediate action and response, although there is also always talk of the longer-term community support; as well as prevention of impact in future events.
Today Kate Slater from the Rātā Foundation shared learnings from funding after the 2019 terrorist attack and the Canterbury earthquakes. Insight from Canterbury funders was fed into this Philanthropy New Zealand guide in 2019.
PNZ is looking to update this guide and give greater consideration to issues that have become more critical now with the increase in climate related events, including: cross-sector coordination of funding/resources and sharing of information and activity; and the drivers and causes of the impacts.
Thank you to the funders who joined us on the call today. We appreciate our speakers from Auckland Council/Emergency Management; Hastings District Council/Hawke’s Bay Emergency Management; Trust Tairāwhiti; Eastern Central and Community Trust; and the Red Cross.