Revitalization of Samoa’s Village Women’s Committee for Public Health Promotion

Abstract

Part one of this report will explain how village women’s committees fit in to the contemporary system of village-based local government in Samoa. Village women’s committees named Komiti Tumama (hygiene committees) were part of Samoa’s public health system for nearly 50 years (1930s-1980s) but have largely lost this role over the past 25 years. It draws on data from a recent survey (2013-2015) of governance in all villages in Samoa, conducted by a research team from the National University of Samoa