Translating for Pacific language resources: an organisational approach

Translating health and other resources into easy-to-read information and in Pasifika languages, helps equip Pasifika people with the right knowledge to make important decisions. It can also enhance access to the right help and support people to be more informed about their wellbeing.

The team at Le Va put this document together originally intended as an internal document to help guide our work. Due to demand, our offering is to share this information so that the public are aware of our process for translating material to Pacific languages, and also so that others may utilise our approach in their work if useful. A secondary gain is that we are contributing to the preservation of Pasifika languages, protecting and nurturing cultural traditions and identity for the future.

Le Va prioritises a simple-language, health literacy approach to all our resources. Our approach is aligned with the Ministry of Health Guidelines and we follow the World Health Organisation recommended processes for translating or adapting resources.