Vaine Iriano Wichman is a

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

politician and development economist. She is a member of the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

Background

Wichman received her MSc in Development Economics from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

in 1987. In 2006, she attended the Leaders in Development course at the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Career

From 2004 to 2006 Wichman was a member of the 11th Cook Islands Parliament, representing Ruaau. She won with 55.1% of the votes. She ran in the 2003 by-election for Ruaau, but was defeated by Geoffrey Heather. 2004-2006, Member of Parliament, Parliament of the Cook Islands. As a member of parliament, Vaine’s work included reviewing the Property Law Act of the Cook Islands, reviewing the Civil List entitlements of Parliamentarians, revising the Unit Titles Bill of the Cook Islands and reviewing the public spending of Crown Agencies. She also worked as an Associate Minister of Finance and oversighted the preparation of the Government’s budgets in 2005, 2006. Catholic Faith Commitments Team leader (Finance)– Immaculate Heart of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Arorangi, 2010 - current Board Member – Nukutere College Board, 2020 – current In 2012 Wichman was re-elected to a second term as President of the Cook Islands National Council of Women (CINCW). As a development economist Wichman has produced a number of reports for the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

including: * ''Revamping the Cook Islands Public Sector'' (2008) * ''Making Things Simpler?: Harmonizing Aid Delivery in the Cook Islands'' (2008) She is also the author of ''From Words to Wheelbarrows: the Nukuroa Revolving Fund'' and ''Fishing for Answers: Socio-economic Assessment of the Rarotonga Game and Small Scale Fishing Industry''. Wichman was the Cook Islands In-Country Co-ordinator for the University of the South Pactific EU Climate Change programme from 2011 to 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wichman, Vaine Iriano Living people 20th-century births Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands Cook Islands Party politicians Alumni of the University of Bradford Harvard Kennedy School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)