The New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will visit Samoa as part of the country’s 60th Independence anniversary celebration.

Details of the Governor-General’s visit including her official visit program are yet to be released by the local authorities.

However, Nanai Laveitiga Tuiletufuga from the Government’s Press Secretariat confirmed her visit when contacted by the Samoa Observer on Wednesday night.

It is understood part of her program during her visit will include the relaunching of the Manumea conservation campaign, where she is expected to give the keynote address. Her visit to Samoa will coincide with next week’s 60th Independence anniversary celebrations.

Grants courtesy of the New Zealand Government currently fund the Manumea conservation campaign, which is run by local non-government organisation, Samoa Conservation Society in partnership with various villages.

A visit by Dame Cindy to one of the Samoan villages, which currently hosts conservation activities that aim to identify and protect Samoa’s national bird, is also part of her visit program.

Her visit to Samoa comes over a month after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led a 30-strong delegation to Samoa on 1 August 2022 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between Samoa and New Zealand.

The visit will also be Dame Cindy’s first to Samoa as the Aotearoa Vice Regal, following her approval by Queen Elizabeth II in May last year and official swearing-in by the New Zealand Government in September last year for a five-year term.

Prior to her appointment as the Governor-General, Dame Cindy had a distinguished career in the tertiary education sector, with a particular focus on public health, according to the New Government website. She is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu and British descent.

Dame Cindy is married to Dr Richard Davies, a General Practitioner who most recently worked with Auckland City Mission’s Calder Centre.

She completed her primary and secondary schooling in Auckland and went on to be the first person in her family to achieve tertiary qualifications: a PhD in Social Policy and an MBA (Exec) in Business Administration.

Much of Dame Cindy’s career has been in the tertiary education sector, where she became a distinguished researcher held leadership roles at Massey University, Victoria University Wellington/Te Herenga Waka and the University of Auckland. While at the University of Auckland she was Director of the Starpath Project, which investigated the impacts of socio-economic status on educational achievement in New Zealand.

Her public sector roles have included Children’s Commissioner (the first woman and first Māori to be appointed to the role) membership of the Ministerial Cross-Sector Forum for the Ministry of Education, and Chair of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group.

Dame Cindy has had extensive experience in the public health sector, including a role as General Manager Funding and Services Planning and Māori Health for the Auckland District Health Board.