Ngā Mihi is an online campaign to demonstrate our gratitude, appreciation and love to our essential workforces responding to COVID-19.

Launched in December 2021, the campaign has reached a combined audience of 336,000 people through partnerships with Māori Media, Māori Radio Stations, and Social Media. The programme has also curated and shared over 1,500 stories and experiences from whanau.

Over the past two years, it has become increasingly clear how vital our Māori Providers to the communities they serve. They have been unwavering in their commitment, ingenuity, and innovation – often going above and beyond to ensure that health and wellbeing of whānau. Ngā Mihi was our response to demonstrating our gratitude for the collective efforts of these workforces – the unsung hero’s fighting to keep our communities safe.

The campaign was launched at a peak period of negative media around restrictions, mandates, and vaccinations. The country was heightened with concerns for the COVID-19 Delta outbreak and the pending arrival of COVID-19 Omnicron.

Persistent health inequities had resulted in lower vaccination rates within communities with high Māori populations. Providers were starting to show early signs of fatigue from the relentless pace of testing, vaccinations, and community-based initiatives.

Ngā Mihi provided a simple way to change the narrative within communities through the act of expressing gratitude. Māori Media was quick to offer their support – creating their own promotions, events, and messaging in support of the programme. Within 4 weeks, the programme reached into 90,000 Maori Homes and generated over 1,000 messages.

For more information visit www.ngamihi.com