The signatories to the Waka Toa Ora Charter agree to work together to promote, protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the people and whenua/land in Canterbury.
Waka Toa Ora believes that we will be able to achieve more by working together than we could separately.
The Charter does not create any legal relationship between signatories but sets out signatories' mutual intentions to work together to create a healthy Canterbury in the broadest sense.
Waka Toa Ora recognises that each signatory has its own responsibilities and activities but that more can be gained by working together collaboratively.
Download or view the Waka Toa Ora Charter - updated July 2019 [PDF].
Relationship between the Ottawa Charter and Te Tiriti O Waitangi
The attendees at the original Charter development workshops and hui stressed the fundamental importance of two documents to the process: the Treaty of Waitangi and the Ottawa Charter. Many groups already structure their work in response to these documents and felt any local document should reflect this.
Healthy Cities and the Ottawa Charter
Healthy Cities is a World Health Organisation initiative that was launched in 1986. It attempts to address broad community issues and has been the major platform for addressing urban health in World Health Organisation's "Health for All" policy.
Healthy Cities is based on principles identified in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986, which include:
- Health is a social rather than purely a health sector matter;
- Many factors influence our health, from individual characteristics, to health services, to social, economic and environmental factors.
- Health is the responsibility of all city services;
- Health is an outcome of collaboration between community members, planners and providers of public and private sector services
The Ottawa Charter identifies the prerequisites for health (peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable eco-system, sustainable resources, social justice and equity) and identifies five key action strategies to promote health:
- build healthy public policy;
- create supportive environments;
- strengthen community action;
- develop personal skills; and
- re-orient health services.
Te Tiriti O Waitangi
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding document of Aotearoa - New Zealand and is central to health promotion in this country. The provisions of the Treaty drawn from the three articles are:
- Kawanatanga - closest English word is governance;
- Tino rangatiratanga - Māori control and self determination; abd
- Oritetanga - Equality
The Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand has facilitated the development of the TUHA-NZ Memorandum (A Treaty Understanding of Hauora in Aotearoa-New Zealand). TUHA-NZ was developed to give a practical understanding about how the Treaty of Waitangi can be applied in a meaningful and practical way by health promoters in Aotearoa - New Zealand.