This article examines the extent to which foreign investments negatively impact Indigenous Peoples. Drawing on case law insights from investor-state dispute settlement and relevant international human rights instruments, this study highlights the tensions between the protection of Indigenous communities and the rights of foreign investors. The article demonstrates that international investment law inadequately addresses human rights concerns, leaving Indigenous Peoples vulnerable to adverse effects from investment projects. The findings from case law analysis emphasise the need for a more consistent and comprehensive approach to reconciling these competing interests, incorporating human rights considerations into investment arbitration. This paper advocates for greater inclusion of Indigenous communities in decision-making processes and reforms that balance economic development with the protection of Indigenous rights.
Despite Aotearoa New Zealand’s rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollout, it exposed stark inequities, with Māori communities facing persistent delays. This study investigated the success of a kaupapa Māori vaccination service in Canterbury. Thematic analysis of leadership communications identified key factors, resulting in a new quality assurance model for immunisation. The model comprises three domains: Cultural, affirming Māori cultural infrastructure and relational funding; Social, ensuring equitable, community-aspirational services; and Clinical, guaranteeing evidence-based care and Māori workforce development. The MIHI Mobile Vaccine Clinic experience demonstrates that embedding Māori values into service design creates more responsive and effective health care. This relational model provides a vital, practical framework for ensuring equitable responses in future health crises.
Early childhood support services shape infant health outcomes and conditions, enabling māmā (mother) and whānau (extended family) to flourish. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Well Child Tamariki Ora (WCTO) services operate within a health system shaped by colonial governance and Western biomedical norms, where Māori parenting knowledge has been marginalised. This article explores māmā Māori experiences of WCTO services. Drawing on 65 kōrero from Wāhi Kōrero, a story-sharing platform, we undertook qualitative kaupapa Māori analysis of responses to the prompt ‘Kōrero I wish I could’ve had with the Well Child nurse’. Findings highlight cultural and structural challenges, including judgement, cultural dismissal, and limited recognition of Māori parenting knowledge. Kōrero also reveal examples of mana-enhancing care grounded in listening, affirmation, and relational support. Rather than positioning māmā as disengaged or deficient, findings reveal discernment, strength, and commitment to pēpi wellbeing. Transformation requires embedding Māori ways of knowing and caring within service design and delivery.
This paper describes the collaborative methodology of the Wāhine Māori & Contraception research project, a study grounded in Kaupapa Māori (Māori-centred approach) and Mana Wahine (authority and power of Māori women) inquiry and designed with wāhine Māori (Māori women) researchers, advisors and community members. Our approach centred Māori-led decision-making and relational accountability to guide all stages of the project. Members of the Rōpū Wahine (women’s group) conducted interviews and focus groups with 91 wāhine Māori and eight tāne Māori (Māori men), using storytelling processes that supported participants to share their experiences. We focus here on how this methodology was developed and enacted, highlighting practical processes, collective sense-making and ethical commitments. Brief insights show how the methodology enabled wāhine Māori to articulate barriers to contraception and assert reproductive autonomy. This methodology demonstrated the potential of Indigenous-led research for strengthening cultural safety, equity and self-determination in reproductive well-being.
Government bond yield dynamics reflect a complex and multi-layered interplay between macroeconomic stability, monetary policy decisions, fiscal debt management, and broader financial market conditions. This paper investigates the primary structural drivers behind the yields of short-term, medium-term, and long-term treasury bonds issued by the Republic of Armenia. Utilizing monthly time-series empirical data spanning from January 2011 to December 2025, we construct dynamic econometric regression models in the EViews software suite using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation methodology. Rigorous econometric diagnostic testing confirms the statistical robustness, model adequacy, and complete absence of multicollinearity, autocorrelation, or heteroskedasticity issues. The empirical findings indicate that the Central Bank of Armenia’s refinancing rate serves as the primary benchmark driving yields across all maturity horizons. Exchange rate fluctuations (USD/AMD) demonstrate a statistically significant, asymmetric transmission effect, pushing short-term yields upward due to immediate risk premium demands, while exercising an inverse influence on medium- and long-term yields as institutional investors seek long-dated real return locks. Furthermore, retail bank deposit rates and general economic activity indices show negligible direct statistical leverage on bond yields, underscoring persistent market segmentation and the dominant role of institutional market players. To enhance market depth and liquidity, policy makers should focus on expanding retail participation through digital investment platforms and strengthening secondary market-making institutions.
