Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta at the opening of the refurbished in Port Vila on 29 March 2023. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
New Zealand has made available an additional $NZ1 million to support Vanuatu's post-cyclone recovery efforts.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who is on an official tour to the nation, announced the new support package in the capital Port Vila on Wednesday.
Mahuta said the funds would be made available for community-driven non-governmental organisations (NGO) "to deliver against locally articulated priorities".
The priority areas will include food security, health and gender protection.
She said New Zealand continues to provide ongoing humanitarian aid and support to its Pacific neighbour.
"But the most important thing is the delivery of that funding will be through local NGOs and the identification of priorities will be community-led," she said.
Mental health ward unveiled
The foreign minister also opened the refurbished Port Vila Mind Care mental health facility alongside Vanuatu's Health Minister Marco Mahe.
The facility will help support the psychological and mental health needs of ni-Vanuatu people following the back-to-back cyclones.
The project was part of New Zealand's support for infrastructure damaged by tropical cyclone Harold in 2021 and cost $155,000.
New Zealand-based mental health support organisation Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) will operate from the facility to "provide culturally appropriate support in the health sector to our Pacific neighbours", Mahuta said.
"We know that we need to do more," she said.
"Because it must be really difficult for many of our families living in villages who have been impacted [by the cyclones] to live on a day to day basis under those circumstances."
She said that she was "encouraged to see how the various aspects of development and relief assistance are working together to support the government of Vanuatu and especially in the health and mental health space."
Support important to eradicate stigma
Providing quality mental service has been challenging said Vanuatu's only psychiatrist Jimmy Obed.
Obed told RNZ Pacific the country's small mental health team did not have the capacity and resources to attend to ni-Vanuatu people who suffered with issues like "depression and anxiety" when they started out in 2014.
"That was because of the health literacy of people in our community and mental health is fairly a new concept to understand."
But with more community awareness, particularly after covid, more people were coming forward to seek help, Obed said.
"Usually they would run to a traditional healer or the pastor down the road or take some herbal medication and things like that. But we have started to see a shift."
He has welcomed the New Zealand-funded facility which he believes will help address stigma associated with mental health.
"It [the mental health ward] used to be referred to as the 'prison' or in Bislama we would say the 'cranky' ward and people would look at it and did not want to come to us [for help].
"But with the renovation and more space I think it would be friendlier for our clients to come in and address the stigma aspect of it," he added.
Vanuatu Health Minister Marco Mahe (left) and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta opened the refurbished Port Vila Mind Care mental health facility on 29 March 2023. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham