Working and Discussion Paper Series

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    Leveraging the Samoan Mental Health Policy for Policy Development in Niue
    (Massey University, 2019) Corcoran, Dale; Stewart-Withers, Rochelle
    Mental health is a prevalent, but often ignored area of health. Mental illness can significantly impact the mentally unwell, their families, and the wider community, yet access to proper care can be hindered by availability, ignorance, discrimination, and stigma, and result in human rights violations. This is especially true in developing countries where services may be inadequate or non-existent. Mental health policies can alleviate this situation by improving and prioritising mental health services at a national level. Based on Samoa and Niue’s similarities in terms of their mental health context and the positive analysis and evaluation of the 2006 Samoan policy, this paper concludes that the work done in Samoa is a viable choice for Niue to leverage in their future policy work. Niue would benefit from developing their mental health policy based on the precepts of South-to-South Cooperation by collaborating and sharing knowledge with their neighbour Samoa.
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    Sport as a vehicle for development: The influence of rugby league in/on the Pacific.
    (2009-10-16T03:39:31Z) Stewart-Withers, Rochelle; Brook, Martin
    In the field of development the relationship between development and sport has for the most part been ignored (Beacom 2007, Levermore 2008). When it has been discussed it occurs in a way whereby ‘sport is seen as a by-product of development not as an engine’ (United Nations 2006 cited in Levermore 2008:184). While conceptualisations of the sport and development relationship have begun to emerge, as noted in recent United Nations documents (also see AusAid 2008), an argument persists that the use of sport for development remains unproven (World Bank 2006). In keeping with post-development thinking which seeks to explore differing visions and expressions of development and by taking a strengths-based approach to the sport and development nexus, this paper considers critically the notion of sport as an engine of development. We will focus specifically on the role of rugby league, the NRL, and the Pacific region in relation to community development, youth development and crime prevention, health promotion and prevention, in particular HIV/AIDS and family violence, and economic opportunities and poverty alleviation.