Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Māngai Pāho and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding today to launch a series of rangatahi-focused reo initiatives.

The initiatives include short language lessons, rangatahi workshops, a national youth reo Māori summit and a social marketing campaign. The key objective of the suite of initiatives is to encourage more rangatahi to use te reo Māori in their everyday lives.

“I’m thrilled to announce this first wave of Maihi Karauna initiatives targeted at young people. The future health of te reo Māori is very much in their hands.” says Te Puni Kōkiri Chief Executive, Michelle Hippolite.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern launched the Maihi Karauna (the Crown’s Māori Language Strategy) to revitalise te reo Māori in February at Te Matatini. Its vision ‘Kia māhorahora te reo’ is for te reo Māori to be seen and heard everywhere, every way, spoken by everyone, every day.

“Since the launch of the Maihi Karauna, we have been working closely together to develop this first wave of implementation activities. ‘Mā pango, mā whero, ka oti te mahi’, through effective collaboration the work can be achieved,” says Mrs Hippolite.  

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Chief Executive Ngahiwi Apanui says the national youth reo Māori summit will take place in the first week of December this year.

“Rangatahi uptake of te reo Māori is a priority. These initiatives will be designed to increase the relevance of te reo Māori to young New Zealanders, and their critical awareness of how important they are to the future of te reo Māori and how important te reo Māori is to their future."

“These new initiatives will also be included in the UNESCO Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 calendar of events.”

Te Māngai Pāho will this week release their Request for Proposal for the Snap-Reo campaign. Larry Parr, Chief Executive, says that the funding of $300,000 made available under this pilot initiative is a unique opportunity to identify some real creativity and innovation in the reo space.

“Te Māngai Pāho will work with Māori Television and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori on this initiative. All three of us are looking forward to collaborating with other innovative, passionate supporters of te reo Māori” he said.

Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Taura Whiri and Te Māngai Pāho will be releasing further information on the workshops, the national summit, and the Snap-Reo campaign throughout the next few months. Visit their Facebook pages and websites to keep up to date.