Resilience building to COVID-19 in the Pacific : a Cook Islands case study

Abstract

As a nation that has placed a strong focus on resilience and institution-building over the past decade, the Cook Islands provides a robust foundation for considering resilience building in an island context. An interpretative case study approach is adopted to explore the steps that the Cook Islands has taken to build resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s response to the resulting economic shock. The study highlights the strengths of islands in building resilience – adaptability and flexibility, utilising their small size to respond effectively, as well as the challenges that they face, such as population, human resource, and skills constraints. In exploring these strengths and weaknesses, the authors arrive at a key observation – that resilience building in the Cook Islands requires a holistic lens; ad hoc sectoral, policy or infrastructure responses alone are not sufficient – an actively applied and supported integrated approach is the key to successfully building resilience.