Church, parents key in Pacific youth plan

Michael Jones

Parents and churches could do more to help young Pacific people realise their potential, says Pacific community leader and former All Black Michael Jones.

He said a new Pacific youth development strategy, launched on Friday by Prime Minister Helen Clark, identified key areas that could best be employed to improve wellbeing.

They were parents, education and the church - given the significant role spirituality often played in Pacific people's lives.

"They were identified by the youth themselves and are potentially key vehicles for empowering youth."

Jones, who chaired a group to co-ordinate consultation on the strategy, said 85 per cent of Pacific people were connected with a church and there was a challenge for churches to realise their potential to help with social issues.

"A holistic approach is how we do things. We don't separate out the spiritual," he said.

Jones said there were some excellent examples of traditional churches in Wellington which had developed multi-faceted programmes.

He said parents also needed to think more about how they communicated with their children, and their power as positive role models.

He wanted to see parenting programmes targeting a range of situations, including single-parent families, teenage parents, Pacific-born parents and New Zealand-born parents.

Helen Clark stressed the "huge importance" of education as the gateway to good jobs and higher incomes, bringing with them better health and security.

Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Taito Phillip Field said such a strategy for Pacific youth was timely.

In the Auckland region, Pacific people made up 18 per cent of those under 15 , he said.

In 2001, the city's Pacific population stood at 176,000, and was projected to reach 253,000 by 2016.