Institute of Development Studies Working Paper Series

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/948

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Author: search.filters.author.Movono, ApisalomeStart date: 2010

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    “Nobody should talk about it”: Fijian health system resilience and the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Institute of Development Studies, Massey University, June 2023) McLennan, Sharon; Movono, Apisalome; Thomas-Maude, Johanna; Siliasau, Isoa; Vosanibola, Apolosi
    In April 2021 Fiji made international news with stories of ‘horrific’ health care conditions, including hospital staff and patients without food, hospital operating theatres out of service, and shortages of beds, medicine, equipment, and blood. While Fiji appeared to be relatively well-prepared to respond to COVID-19 and had successfully avoided a major outbreak in 2020, a rapid increase in the number of cases in 2021 quickly overwhelmed the public health system. In this working paper, we draw on the health systems resilience framework of tangible hardware, tangible software, and intangible software to explore the impacts of COVID-19 in Fiji, the underlying causes of the resulting crisis, and the response of the Fijian health sector. We contend that the 2021-22 crisis was no accident, but that over two decades of political instability, multiple smaller crises, chronic under-resourcing, and neglect left the system with limited ability to cope with the pandemic, and potentially insufficient resources to enter a recovery phase post-pandemic. However, this research also highlights the role of intangible resources, including the adaptive practices, collective labour, and sacrifices of health workers drawing on solesolevaki and communal cultural values. We argue these were not only vital to the Fijian pandemic response but may offer a path towards resilience-building in the health system, and for the radical innovation and adaptions necessary to provide a healthy environment and best quality care for Fijians both in ‘normal’ circumstances and in the face of future crises.
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    Measuring the wellbeing of tourism-reliant communities in the South Pacific during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Institute of Development Studies, Massey University, 2022) Scheyvens, Regina; Movono, Apisalome; Tasere, Apakuki; Neihapi, Pita; Taua’i, Lagi; Turner, Lauren; Uri-Puati, James; Auckram, Jessie
    In the absence of tourists due to COVID-19, Pacific Island nations are thought to have been dealt a “severe blow” that has undermined their wellbeing (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 2020). However, our research in 2020 suggested that despite the hardships, many Pacific peoples living in places normally reliant on income from international tourists had adapted effectively in the face of tough challenges, and some were actually thriving (see Scheyvens et al., 2020). This led us to devise a specific study to measure wellbeing of Pacific peoples, which we report on in this working paper. Phase 1 of this 2021-22 study has assessed wellbeing prior to the return of tourists in Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Vanuatu (see Figure 1), and in Phase 2 it will measure wellbeing again six months after international tourists have returned to each destination. The knowledge gathered thus far allows us to gauge how different aspects of wellbeing have been impacted, and how wellbeings vary between countries. When the entire dataset is collected, the researchers will be able to see whether or not wellbeing is aided by the return of international tourism.
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    Development in a world of disorder : tourism, COVID-19 and the adaptivity of South Pacific people
    (Institute of Development Studies, Massey University, 2020) Scheyvens, Regina; Movono, Apisalome; Strickland, Danita; Bibi, Patricia; Tasere, Apakuki; Hills, Georgie; Rihai, Norah; Teama, Fiona
    This research about the impacts of economic slowdown caused by COVID-19 on the wellbeing of tourism-dependent communities in the Pacific emerged from concerns shared by Dr Apisalome Movono and Professor Regina Scheyvens – tourism and development researchers in the Institute of Development Studies at Massey University. Both scholars had previously researched how tourism could contribute to sustainable development of communities in the Pacific and they felt compelled to now examine COVID-19’s effects on people who were highly reliant on tourism income. By Easter 2020, most international flights to the region had ceased and tens of thousands of tourism sector jobs were threatened. Anecdotally, the researchers had heard that some people were adapting quite well to life without international tourists by growing their own food and bartering, for example, but they were also aware of others who were really struggling. They thus started to design a research project that would allow them to understand the complex realities of the impacts of the pandemic on those people whose livelihoods were largely based on tourism, and how they were adapting. The focus was on communities in tourism-dependent areas, as other entities in the region were already running separate surveys on businesses impacted by the slowdown.