2013 09-12 Newsletter

UNANZ NEWS SEPTEMBER—DECEMBER 2013

UNANZ NEWS

ISSN 1179-8009 (print) ISSN 1179-0817 (online)


THE PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS 2 UNANZ.ORG.NZ

UNANZ News Contents In this issue:

3 2013 UN Day Celebrations

4 UN Secretary General’s 2013 UN Day address

5 UN Handbook details and Branch updates

7 President’s Column

8 UN Youth President’s Column

9 UNANZ Diary for 2104

10 Working with the UN: Report on presentation by Kate Dewes and Rob Green

11 Tauranga Branch: Reflections on the first 10 years

12 Helen Clarke’s speech to the Annual Policy Lecture on “Conflict and Development: Breaking the Cycle of Fragility, Violence, and Poverty”

New Zealand is one of three countries in the Western European and Others electoral group (WEOG) that will seek election to two seats on the UN Security Council.

The elections will be held in New York at the UN General Assembly in October 2014.

In 2015, it will be 21 years since New Zealand last served on the UN Security Council.

Check out this website: http://www.nzunsc.govt.nz/

The Year 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation

International Year of Quinoa

http://www.nzunsc.govt.nz/

http://www.timeanddate.com/year/2013/water-year.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/year/2013/year-quinoa.html


By Robert Mackay, National Vice-President and 2013 UN Day Celebrations Coordinator

“UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being. New Zealand was admitted to UN

on 24 October 1945" (the same day as the US, UK, France and 7 days ahead of Australia!)

24 October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that the day be observed by Member States as a public holiday”.

The annual event gives all who work for the United Nations and all who support the United Nations the opportunity to celebrate its successes and achievements and so on the 16th of October the United Nations Association of New Zealand along with the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, John Key hosted an evening reception marking an early United Nations



Day at Premier House in Wellington.

This year the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister along with the Foreign Minister Hon. Murray McCully addressed the 140 strong audience about their recollections of their experiences at the UN, NZ’s campaign for a UN Security Council seat and the contributions NZ has made since the UN’s inception in 1945.

Guests who attended our event included Rt. Hon Jim Bolger (former Prime Minister and Ambassador to the USA), Colin Keating (former UN Security Council Chairperson and Diplomat), Jo and Gareth Morgan (Philanthropists and UNICEF Celebrity Ambassadors), Maxine Moana Tuwhangai (Chairperson of the Tainui Parliament), Dame Laurie Salas (former WFUNA Vice-President and former National President of UNANZ) and Mary Gray (who witnessed the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 at the invitation of Eleanor Roosevelt).

We would like to thank all our volunteers, the national executive, our Administration Officer, the Prime Minister’s office, Murray McCully’s office and Premier House staff for their contributions to a very successful event.

Photos and Videos from our event can be accessed via our website: www.unanz.org.nz

For more information on New Zealand’s Campaign for the 2015-16 UN Security Council Elections please visit the following website: http://www.nzunsc.govt.nz/

For more information on the United Nations Day please visit the following website: http://www.un.org/en/events/unday/

Dear friends,

United Nations Day is a chance to recognize how much this invaluable Organization contributes to peace and common progress.

It is a time to reflect on what more we can do to realize our vision for a better world.

The fighting in Syria is our biggest security challenge.

Millions of people depend on UN humanitarian personnel for life-saving assistance.

UN experts are working hand-in-hand with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to destroy Syria’s stockpiles.

And we are pushing for a diplomatic solution to end suffering that has gone on far too long.

Our most urgent development challenge is to make sustainability a reality.

The Millennium Development Goals have cut poverty in half.

Now we must maintain the momentum, craft an equally inspiring post-2015 development agenda and reach an agreement on climate change.

This year again, we saw the United Nations come together on armed conflict, human rights, the environment and many other issues.

We continue to show what collective action can do. We can do even more.

In a world that is more connected, we must be more united.

On United Nations Day, let us pledge to live up to our founding ideals and work together for peace, development and human rights.

Ban Ki-moon

http://www.unanz.org.nz

http://www.nzunsc.govt.nz/

http://www.un.org/en/events/unday/



The United Nations continues to face immense challenges in seeking to address the critical issues facing the world at the present time. The humanitarian disaster confronting the Syrian people, as a consequence of the on-going military conflict in that country is a burden not only to Syria's neighbouring countries but to the global system, as it attempts to provide the humanitarian assistance for more than 2 million displaced citizens in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. The inability of the Security Council to resolve the conflict once again draws the attention of UN observers to the issue of how the Council is composed, and to the powers and resources available to it to restore peace amongst nations in conflict. Once again it is the call of civil society, rather than of states, urging a speedy resolution to the violence in all its forms.

International Day of Peace

Here in New Zealand, the situation in Syria was remembered as we observed International Peace Day on 21st September. In Wellington more than 100 guests participated in a program organised by the Wellington City Council and SGI at the Botanic Gardens. Mayor Celia Wade-Brown spoke, along with representatives of UNESCO, UNICEF, and myself for UNANZ. The plight of the Syrian refugee children was highlighted and UNICEF explained its program for assisting with their health and well being, especially in the field of education. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's International Peace Day Message, which I read at this event, is online at http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2013/sgmessage.shtml

United Nations Day

Then, on 16th October UNANZ celebrated United Nations Day at Premier House, Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully as guest speakers. We were pleased to welcome 130 members of UNANZ together with diplomats, public servants, and representatives of many civil society organizations. Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Affairs Ministry Murray McCully both spoke about their experiences at the United Nations General Assembly and about current efforts New Zealand is making to win a further turn on the UN Security Council. We have loaded both these speeches, as well as numerous photos of the occasion, on the UNANZ website at http://www.unanz.org.nz/

In addition to these large gatherings, we have been

working to establish closer relations with our affiliates and official bodies. On 18 November John Morgan and I visited Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford to learn about the Commission's current activities and to explore possibilities for future collaboration.

On 2nd December whilst in Christchurch for a political studies conference, I met with the Canterbury Branch and discussed their plans for 2014. The Branch was in need of a secretary, and voted Dr Lynette Hardie-Wills into this role. We wish Lynette and the Branch all the best as they continue to recover from the effects of the 2010 earthquake.

UN Youth AGM, December 8

On 8th December, I addressed UN Youth's AGM and was extremely impressed with the vision and energy of the meeting. Congratulations to all the incoming office holders, especially Sally Wu, who succeeds Anton Smith as President.

Understanding the United Nations System

On 25th November I ran a workshop on on "Understanding the UN System", as part of the GMSTEC Intercultural Leadership Camp at Victoria University. It is always interesting to learn how the UN is viewed by the next generation - in in this case, students from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. In this session I focus on the origin and structure of the United Nations Organization; the UN’s main achievements; key critiques of the UN; and current policy issues on the UN agenda. The students are

"Understanding the UN System" workshop at Victoria University, Wellington.

http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2013/sgmessage.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2013/sgmessage.shtml

http://www.unanz.org.nz/



asked to answer such questions as when was the United Nations established, and for what purpose? How does the United Nations function? What has the United Nations achieved? What are the main criticisms directed at the United Nations? Is it possible to achieve reform of the United Nations? And what major policy issues are UN agencies working on at the current time? They are supplied in advance with readings by Thomas Weiss, ““How United Nations ideas change history” (from the Review of International Studies October 2010), and “Can we Fix the United Nations?” (2012), which is available on the WFUNA website at http://tinyurl.com/Acronym-1-1

Gathering of UN agencies

On 11th December UNANZ representatives joined with other UN agencies in a morning tea at the offices of UNICEF. Present were: Jonathan Gee (UN Youth), Robyn Holdaway (UNANZ, Intern), Ella Cavander (UNANZ, Intern), Emma Holloway (UNANZ), Anna Hamer-Adams (VUW Summer Scholar), Pete Cowley (UNANZ), Joy Dunsheath (UNANZ), Robert Mackay (UNANZ), Ruth Harrison (UN Women), Elizabeth Rose (UNESCO), Dennis McKinlay (UNICEF), Sarah Morris (UNICEF), and myself. Each organization shared news of current events and campaigns, and we agreed to meet early in 2014 to explore a collaborative project to mark Human Rights Day next 10th December.

Morning tea with UN agencies, December 11

During November and December UNANZ was delighted to host two interns from Victoria University, who work on UNANZ projects as part of their BA programme. Ella Cavander’s project “Current Issues at the United Nations” will help us formulate a strategy for the content and delivery of civic education; and Robin Holdaway developed an annotated bibliography for the “UNANZ history project”. I want to thank all those who have welcomed their inquiries and helped to make these projects a success. In yet another project, Victoria University student Anna Hamer-Adams worked throughout December and January on a summer project to identify government departments and agencies that are engaged with UN activities. Her

report will assist us in planning UNANZ national conference for 2014, which is to be held in Wellington next May. Further details of the

conference will of course be shared in the next UNANZ Newsletter.

Anna Hamer-Adams, Ella Cavandar and Robyn Holdaway

The September-December period, reviewed in brief above, has thus been extremely productive for UNANZ, through the help of the National Council, the executive committee, and all the Branches. The National Council meeting in Wellington on September 14-15 (see photo on the back cover of this newsletter) received reports from most branches and Special Officers, and welcomed some new office bearers - Johanna Clayton as National Treasurer, John Morgan as SO Human Rights and Emma Holloway in a new position of Development & Communications Officer. The National Council also consulted on progress of UNANZ three-year work program.

Waitangi Day 2014

UNANZ has been invited by the Governor General Sir Jerry Mataparei to send two representatives to a garden party for Waitangi day, February 6th. Joy Dunsheath will be there to represent us.

Consultative Status at ECOSOC

We are pleased to announce that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at its Substantive Session of July 2013 adopted the recommendation of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to grant Special consultative status to The United Nations Association Of New Zealand Incorporated. Consultative status enables UNANZ to actively engage with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, as well as with the United Nations Secretariat, programmes, funds and agencies in a number of ways, including the ability to be informed about the provisional agenda of the Economic and Social Council; to place items of special interest in the provisional agenda of the Council; to attend meetings and have access to the United Nations.

http://tinyurl.com/Acronym-1-1

http://tinyurl.com/Acronym-1-1


I N M E M O R I U M

As the UN continued to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, Secretary-General Ban told thousands gathered at a memorial service in Johannesburg that the former South African president was not only a great leader, but also a great teacher of our time. NMF/M. Willman


We now have the right to designate official representatives to the United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations offices in Geneva and Vienna; to register for and participate in events, conferences and activities of the United Nations, and to designate authorized representatives to sit as observers at public meetings of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, General Assembly, Human Rights Council and other United Nations intergovernmental decision-making bodies - on matters within our field of competence.

Communications from other UN Associations

Throughout the year UNANZ receives communications from other United Nations Associations. These have recently included a Souvenir programme produced by UNA Singapore on the occasion of their 68th Anniversary, and the publication Global Development Goals: Leaving no one behind, published by UNA United Kingdom, which is available online at http://tinyurl.com/leaving-no-one-behind

UN Youth has recently elected a new National Executive for 2014. We are incredibly excited to take on our new roles. We look forward to creating a richer educational experience for our members, creating a stronger internal culture and strengthening our relationship with UNANZ. The new National Executive will get together for strategic planning in January 2014 to set the direction for the organisation in the coming year. Looking back, 2013 has been an immense period of growth for UN Youth. The constitutional overhaul, new document storage system, full operation of the trust and creation of the UN+Cut documentary are some of the major changes we have experienced. Some more highlights include official recognition of the Youth Declaration document by Nikki Kaye, a successful New Zealand Model United Nations and Model Security Council, and launch of the online Diplomacy Competition. The coming year will bring many challenges, but as a group of committed volunteers, we are determined to continue growing the organisation and taking it from strength to strength.

2014 UNANZ National Calendar

This calendar provides for two meetings of the National Council (February and September, the National Conference and AGM (May), monthly meetings of the National Executive, quarterly newsletters, and selected UN day observances

Sat 15 – Sun 16 February

National Council - advise Branches that remits are due by 31 March.

1 March UNANZ Newsletter

31 March All Branch A.G.M.s to be completed

Thurs 8 May —Sun 11May

Sat 10

Sat 10

Sun 11

UNANZ National Conference – Wellington (note: some dates and venues to be confirmed)

UNANZ AGM

Adcock Dinner

Secondary Schools Speech Awards Finals

1 June UNANZ Newsletter

1 September UNANZ News Newsletter

Sun 21 September

International Day of Peace

Sat-Sun 27-27 September

National Council Meeting in Wellington

Mon 20 October United Nations Day reception at Government House

Fri 24 October United Nations Day

1 December UNANZ Newsletter

Wed 10 December

Human Rights Day - UNANZ

National Event

http://tinyurl.com/leaving-no-one-behind

http://tinyurl.com/leaving-no-one-behind


Gary Russell, Co-President

The guest Speaker at our September meeting was Justin Louise from North Carolina. He spoke on his internship at the UN in NY, and his volunteer work setting up a rental cycles' business in Africa and then in Vietnam removing a snail pest from the rice paddies.

On 20 November we hald our annual UNANZ Northern Branch Xmas party and invited other associated groups to join us in the evening and gave a presentation of the progress on the C.O. art exhibition I have organised Peace believer artists e.g. Rita Angus etc. as well as spoke on the highlights from my Conflict Resolution University lectures I gave on the "TRUTH behind the NEWS" of the Fiji Coup 1987 and the collapse of the Soviet Union 1989-1990.

Robin Halliday, President

June: Wellington branch members were encouraged to attend Diplomatic Forums on the United Nations with speakers from the Chinese, Brazilian, Chilean, US and Philippines Embassies. Organised by the UNANZ and the Global Public Policy Project Victoria University They were held on Friday evenings at Victoria University.

August: Members were invited to the Hiroshima Day event sponsored by the Wellington City Council and The City is Ours Inc in the Botanical Gardens where a number of Ambassadors MPs and City Councillors spoke and to lunch at Bellamys with Jakob Von Uexkull Founder of the World Future Council. Wellington branch was especially pleased to be a co-sponsor with NZIIA and Victoria University of the excellent address by Rt Hon Helen Clark Administrator of United Nations Development Programme on Conflict and Development – Breaking the Cycle of Fragility, Conflict and Violence. Over 600 attended and it was followed by refreshments and the launch of her a book At the UN - addresses from her first term leading the UNDP. This was followed two weeks later with an address from Sir Kenneth Keith – International Court of Justice – on the 100th anniversary of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Again we thank the NZIIA for allowing us to co-sponsor and invite our members. The August programme was a rich offering for our members.

Wellington branch have invited former National UNANZ Presidents and office holders to a series of afternoon teas to meet and talk to current National office holders. These were recorded and will form the basis of a brief history of the Association. Material is

being collated for a more academic study and members are encouraged to contribute.

There has been some informal follow up from our Renewable Energy in the Pacific debriefing in May and we plan to hold another more specialist roundtable on Solar Energy and its relevance in Small Island States.

September: International Peace Day September 21 was celebrated in the beautiful Begonia House in the Botanical Gardens. The Branch worked with the Mayors office UNICEF, UNESCO and Interfaith groups to acknowledge the 2013 theme of Peace Education.

October: Wellington members joined Diplomats Cabinet Ministers and Affiliated Societies at the UN Day reception in Premier House. The Prime Minister John Key spoke

The Branch invited Gareth and Jo Morgan to illuminate us on travelling through North Korea. It was a fascinating talk and attracted over 80 members and friends.

November: The Branch has received a grant from PADET to hold programmes on Disarmament issues including the Arms Trade Treaty and the upcoming Conference in Mexico in February on Nuclear Disarmament. We began by inviting Auckland member Laurie Ross and former Disarmament Minister to Wellington to brief us on the International situation and the Conferences they had attended. They met with Mayor Celia Wade Brown and Disarmament Ambassador Dell Higgie.

December: This was followed by the very successful visit of Dr Tilman Ruff IPPNW Co Chair and Tim Wright (ICAN). We now look forward to the outcome of the Mexican Conference in February.

Gray Southon, President

Climate Change Stakeholders’ Seminar

The complex annual cycle of global climate change meetings climaxes this year in Warsaw between 11-22 November. Under the general umbrella of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), an amazing array of countries, NGOs, scientific organisations, cities and others persist in tackling this most daunting of global issues: the conflict between our lifestyles and expectations and the capability of the world to cope with us. This extra-ordinary effort, vital to the future of our species, is amazingly invisible to the most of us, and even this annual climax has been almost completely ignored by the media.

As New Zealand’s band of diplomats prepare to venture forth, they kindly provided seminars for interested stakeholder in Auckland and Wellington.



I was fortunate enough to attend the Auckland event on the 4th November, representing UNANZ, G-Force and the Quaker Futures Committee.

Our speakers commenced by introducing the structure and a little of the history of the negotiations, and noted the significance of various ‘real world’ events such as the IPCC 5th assessment report, Obama’s policies and the Australian election results. They then went on to address specific issues that were to be considered including:

1. Land use (forests, agriculture etc.), where they had to extend the arrangements from the relatively stable developed countries to the quite dynamic developing country environment. This was a complex area with various sources and sinks, possibly moving in a cyclic manner.

2. Carbon markets, had to be refined. There were now 40 countries operating or considering carbon markets of various types, and there were many details to be sorted out.

3. Climate finance involved developed countries supporting the activities of developing countries, involving both public and private agencies. NZ had proposed a composite structure whereby an allocation structure was established at a global level and the details of how the money was allocated and made accountable were established on a local basis in the context of established national programs.

4. Loss and damage involved funding the recovery from climate change impacts in developing countries. While there was already considerable activity in assisting recovery from disasters, with the anticipated increase, it was necessary to specifically target climate change. This process was very political, with considerable uncertainty in attributing cause to climate change and allocating costs to the various, mostly developed countries.

They then dealt with the structure of the 2015 agreement, what is expected next year and finished with priority concerns for NZ.

During questions it was made clear that the critical issues of the level and timing of commitments were up to the politicians, and the diplomats were responsible only for developing the ‘platform’ on which these commitments were handled. It was necessary for the community to engage with the politicians to ensure that we had input into the political decisions. Questions were asked about the status of NZ’s moral leadership internationally, and we were assured that it was good. NZ had done all it said it would do and had a reputation of developing constructive pragmatic, workable solutions. They said that NZ was blessed with cross party political support for this diplomatic work. Other questions referred to the loopholes in such areas as land use and carbon markets, and whether finance was really additional.

The delegation were hoping that the Warsaw meeting would provoke member nations into action.


Amongst the approximately 60 people in attendance were around eight young people participating in various youth delegations, and we were informed that there was a business delegation going.

On the 25th Sept the Tauranga branch was treated to an impressive presentation by Kate and Rob on their experiences of working with the UN. Over twenty years they have schemed, coordinated, programmed, and enticed a wide variety of organisations, countries, politicians, diplomats, Nobel laureates, lawyers, doctors and many others, including the UN Secretary General, to achieve amazing outcomes which have moved attitudes, expectations and action at the global level.



Kate began her peace and disarmament work supporting the Peace Squadron (1975-1980), followed by the campaign for nuclear free legislation and subsequent membership of the government’s Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. In 2007 she became the first Australasian member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, as an independent citizen amongst former senior diplomats and academics. A factor that gave Kate greater freedom than most others was that she was not paid by her government. Rob spent 20 years in the British Royal Navy (1962-82), flying nuclear strike aircraft and helicopters, and then as a Commander in the Ministry of Defence, close to nuclear policymaking. In his final appointment he was in Intelligence in the Commander-in-Chief Fleet’s staff during the Falklands War. Having taken redundancy, he was radicalised by the controversial 1984 murder of his aunt and mentor Hilda Murrell, an anti-nuclear campaigner, and became a campaigner himself.

Absent in only body was Alyn Ware, whose name came up repeatedly as a close colleague and a consistent inspiration to their projects. Alyn, until recently based in Wellington, has moved to Switzerland where he has a stronger base for his excellent work. The centre piece of this presentation was the World Court Project (WCP) which asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague to address the legality of the threat and use of nuclear weapons. Running from 1986 - 1996, it brought together a coalition of NGOs co-sponsored by the International Peace Bureau, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms. They conducted Track 2 diplomacy with a wide range of governments including the Non-Aligned Movement countries. The Project also collected nearly 4 million individual ‘Declarations of Public Conscience’ which were

presented to the Court as ‘citizens’ evidence’, along with signatures from a wide range of prominent endorsers, and obtained media coverage. Rob joined the project in 1992 which had principally been driven by three New Zealanders; Harold Evans, Alyn Ware and Kate Dewes. He understudied Alyn Ware to learn the ways of the UN New York scene and to engineer the fast-tracking of the project through a series of UN meetings, as well as private ambassadorial meetings. At the court’s oral proceedings in 1995, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki testified, and a woman victim of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands was brought in as a witness. The Court’s findings, issued in July 1996, included:

The threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular, the principles and rules of humanitarian law.

There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith

and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all it aspects under strict and effective international control.

One consequence was that the New Agenda Coalition was formed in 1998 made up of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and Slovenia, to generate political will to revitalise the nuclear disarmament agenda. In 2008, the UN Secretary General developed his own Five Point Proposal, and Kate served on his Disarmament Advisory Board until 2012. Concerted efforts to break the log-jam at the Conference of Disarmament led to the substantial achievements of the Oslo conference in March 2013 addressing the humanitarian consequences of nuclear war, with the ICRC taking a leading role for the first time. It found, for instance, ‘that no national or international capacity existed to help survivors of even a single nuclear weapon detonation. The talk presented a wealth of lessons and techniques to pursue action through the UN system. This is valuable information that should be more widely distributed, especially amongst our youth. Notes: More information on Kate and Rob can be found at www.disarmsecure.org/people.php An account of the World Court Project can be found in the publication Aotearoa/New Zealand at the World Court, by Kate Dewes and Robert Green, available at: http://www.disarmsecure.org/Aotearoa_New_Zealand_At_The_World_Court.pdf Gray Southon Tauranga

Kate Dewes presenting publication of the Dominion Post in the UN SG Disarmament Advisory Board

http://www.disarmsecure.org/people.php

http://www.disarmsecure.org/Aotearoa_New_Zealand_At_The_World_Court.pdf

http://www.disarmsecure.org/Aotearoa_New_Zealand_At_The_World_Court.pdf


The World Court Project activists: Rob Green, Harold Evans, Kate Dewes & Alyn Ware (Photo taken some twenty years ago)

Rob Green

By Roger Hay and Gray Southon The Tauranga branch gathered for UN Day to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. It began with a shared meal which was accompanied by a slide show of representative events over the years. We then had informal discussions on our memories of significant events, and one of our students read comments made by many of our past students who have been quite involved in our work. They commented on where they were and what they had gained from their association with UNAT. We certainly gained assurance that we had been doing something of value. Reviewed our list of events and finished by playing last year’s UN Day speech by John Allen - a most inspiring presentation. It’s hard to believe we’ve been promoting the life and work of the United Nations to the good folk of Tauranga for ten years, with quite an impressive list of achievements:

Nine Annual Speech Awards : i.e. Our annual

Speech competition of High School students on a topic related to the UN. Every year I’ve been impressed by the maturity and wisdom of the Speech Award entrants, and proud that our winner often did well in the National Finals to follow.

There have been Eleven Festival occasions where we have staffed a stall and shared with Festival visitors information on the UN. Most of these festival events has been Tauranga’s Multicultural Festival (formerly the Ethnic Festival). This has been an excellent opportunity to inform, share and invite participation in our branch’s life.

Seven Annual Lecture Series, co-sponsored with Tauranga Campus of the University of Waikato, bringing a total of twenty three distinguished people to Tauranga to share their expertise.

Seventeen different Model United Nations events, where teams of High School Students represent nations of the world in debate at a simulated UN General Assembly. They learnt their roles, dressed the part, and debated well.

Highlighted UN DAY (24th October ) every year of our existence, often with a guest speaker brought to Tauranga for the occasion, sometimes at breakfast together in a local café.

Sponsored many meetings with Guest Speakers, the highlight for many being the visit of former Prime Minister Helen Clark, now Director of the UN Development Programme, based in New York, joint meetings with Tauranga Rotarians, Amnesty International , MP Simon Bridges, and many others.

We planned and organised the National Conference of the UN Association of New Zealand in 2007,

And held our own branch meetings, often with a further guest presenter, usually at the home of our present President, Gray, and Ngaire Southon. The Southons have opened their home for our branch meetings on many occasions, plus all our Executive meetings have been held there. They have provided tea and coffee unfailingly over the past ten years

Again and again members have said our most significant and worthwhile events have been those that have given opportunity to young people to learn about the UN, to share their insights and hopes for the future, and to consider their own career and life’s work based on their time with us. Several Youth Leaders in our branch have chosen careers that may give them opportunity to serve someday in the UN on the international scene.




Annual Foreign Policy Lecture by UNDP Administrator Helen Clark at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs’ Annual Foreign Policy Lecture, Victoria University of Wellington, 12 August 2013.

My thanks go to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs for inviting me to give this annual foreign policy lecture.

The last time I spoke at the Institute was as Prime Minister in 2004. That seems a lifetime ago. My theme then was the importance of New Zealand’s multilateral engagement on major global challenges. Since then I have had the opportunity to become rather more directly engaged in many of those challenges myself, through my role as UNDP Administrator and Chair of the UN Development Group.

From its foundation in 1945 as the world’s premier multilateral institution, the UN has been a driving force for development. Indeed development features as one of the three interlinked pillars of the UN’s mandate, alongside human rights and peace and security. It is hard to make sustained progress on any one of those “pillars” without advances on the others.

My theme today is the impact of conflict and armed violence on development, and the importance of creating more peaceful and cohesive environments within which development can thrive. This matters: the world cannot achieve the eradication of extreme poverty if corners of our

world continue to be wracked by violent conflict and fragility.

There can be no doubt that, at the global level, huge progress has been made on reducing extreme poverty. The momentum generated since 2000 by the Millennium Development Goals has also brought focus and directed action and resources to that effort. The target in MDG 1 of having the global rate of extreme poverty halved from its 1990 level by 2015 was reached in 2010, five years ahead of schedule. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has called this progress “the most successful global anti-poverty push in history.”

Progress has been achieved on many other MDG targets too – not least on improved access to safe drinking water, better living conditions for around 200 million slum-dwellers, and on primary school enrolment and improved infant and child health.

But such progress is not yet universal, nor is forward momentum guaranteed. Much work remains. Abject poverty and underdevelopment persist - not least where people lack productive employment and livelihoods; where environmental resources are being depleted and natural disasters are recurrent; and where conflict, armed violence, high levels of crime, and weak governance exist. Added together, these factors perpetuate extreme poverty.

The World Bank calculates that countries affected by conflict and fragility lag behind the most in MDG achievement, accounting for 77 per cent of infant deaths, 65 per cent of the world’s population lacking access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and sixty per cent of the world’s undernourished. People who live in these countries are twice as likely as people living in other developing countries to see their children die before they reach the age of five, and more than three times as likely to be unable to send their children to school. In future, the extremely poor in our world will be increasingly concentrated in these states, as countries not torn apart by conflict and with more effective governance pull ahead. Estimates of the concentration of people living in poverty in these fragile states range from one-third of the global total today to projections of fifty per cent by 2018, and two-thirds and upwards by 2030.

My lecture today will focus on what can be done to help lift the countries and communities left behind in the “conflict-fragility-poverty trap”. That characterization of the mutually reinforcing impact of conflict, fragility, and poverty on development as a “trap” draws from an extensive body of academic



and policy literature, including from Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Collier, the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report, and many other sources. I will:

- discuss what drives conflict and fragility;

- offer some reflections on the impact of conflict and fragility on development; and

- share UNDP’s current thinking on and approach to supporting countries to break out of the conflict-fragility-poverty trap to move along a path to sustainable development and peace.

What is a fragile state?

The OECD defines a fragile state as “one which has weak capacity to carry out basic governance functions and lacks the ability to develop mutually constructive relations with society.”

Both the OECD and the g7+ group, the latter representing a group of eighteen countries which have self-identified as fragile and conflict-affected, have advanced the notion of a “fragility spectrum” to reflect variations in the degree of fragility of individual states. In this concept, most countries are more or less fragile, and even stable countries may have sub-national pockets of fragility where armed conflict and/or criminal violence take their toll.

As a group, the fragile states often share a number of characteristics which make it difficult for them to get ahead. These may include weak governance, poor relations between state and society, and a lack of resilience to potential internal and external shocks – including to stresses emanating from climate change and natural hazards. They may also include countries overwhelmed by rapid urbanization and the impact of burgeoning young populations without enough access to work and opportunity.

No single factor determines fragility, and it may be masked by the existence of relatively strong, often authoritarian, institutions, as has been seen in the

Arab States region. Rivalry between ethnic groups and along other lines can also drive fragility - especially where authorities lack the political will, impartiality, and/or the ability to intercede and resolve grievances.

All the above factors can contribute to violent conflict – which impedes development. The face of conflict itself is changing: armed conflict has dropped overall in the last two decades. Yet while there has been a significant decline in inter-state conflict and battle-related deaths, smaller-scale violence and the number of violence-related deaths have increased. Current forms of armed violence include criminal activity, local conflict over land and natural resources, and inter-ethnic or communal violence.

An estimated 87 per cent of deaths directly resulting from armed violence are rooted in organized crime and gang activities, with the highest rates found in Latin America and the Caribbean and parts of Africa. Only around one in every ten reported violent deaths around the world results from what was once considered typical armed conflict or from an act of terrorism.

Tempering the encouraging trend in the decline of large-scale armed conflict over the past two decades, however, is the dramatic increase in the total number of battle-related deaths in 2012, mostly due to the war in Syria, but with an escalation of armed conflict and resultant fatalities also seen in Afghanistan,

Somalia, and Yemen. The number of documented deaths resulting from the conflict in Syria since March 2011 now exceeds 100,000. Its impact on human development is severe as communities are torn apart and people flee their homes to seek refuge elsewhere.

What else exacerbates fragility?

Losses from disasters – including extreme weather

UNDP Administrator

Hon. Helen Clark



events: The connection between drought and violence and conflict has been well documented. In Burundi, for example, recurrent drought and food insecurity, coupled with uneven food distribution, have sparked violence between migrants and host communities over access to land. In Afghanistan, facing the consequences of drought and with few livelihood alternatives, youth in Balkh province have joined illegal armed groups.

Economic vulnerability: for economies to thrive they must connect with markets, but the ability of fragile states to make those connections, and then to ride out financial volatility or price shocks, is sharply limited. Fragile states are less likely to attract either the sustained domestic or foreign investment which drives economic growth.

High levels of youth unemployment: When UNDP polled Arab youth for its landmark 2002 Arab Human Development Report, lack of jobs and access to education topped their list of concerns. Those concerns were largely unchanged as youth poured onto the streets in the region nearly a decade later to demand political change. Beyond the Arab States region, the global financial crisis and its ongoing repercussions have contributed to high rates of unemployment and underemployment in the advanced economies too. Young people have borne the brunt of this, with negative trends in the youth labour market accounting for 41 per cent of the decline in the global employment-to-population ratio since 2007.

In fragile states, young people aged 15 to 34 already make up more than one-third of the population. Today, about one in three people living in Africa, or about 344 million, is aged 10 to 24; by 2060, that age group is projected to nearly double in size to around 605 million. At the same time, the youth of that region are becoming better educated. The proportion of 20-to 24-year-olds who complete secondary education will likely increase from 42 per cent to 59 per cent between now and 2030. If that talent and potential is not harnessed, however, and if young people are unable to express themselves freely, then a potential demographic dividend could become a demographic “time bomb” as frustrations and despair boil over. The highest priority needs to be given to ensuring the full participation of youth in the economic, social, and political life of their countries so that they can be positive forces for peace and development.

Governance: Poor governance and weak institutions

perpetuate fragility. Governments which cannot execute decisions nor deliver services effectively, and which tolerate corruption, hold back development progress. Climbing out of fragility against a background of conflict and building effective governance can take time; the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report calculates that historically, the fastest rates of transformation in fragile states have taken a generation. Countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia, however, have shown that, with effective leadership and a focus on improving service delivery and tackling corruption, the transition can be accelerated.

External factors: Global factors also drive fragility. These may include trade barriers limiting economic potential, transnational organized crime, and thriving markets for military and security goods and services. Then there are the clear cases of regional spillover from a national crisis – witness the destabilization of the Sahel as a consequence of the upheaval in Libya, and the heavy impact of refugee flows into the small states of Jordan and Lebanon.

Reflections on the impact of conflict and fragility on development

UNDP has a global mandate and presence with programmes and initiatives in virtually every developing country. Our biggest country programmes are in fragile states, where we have learned a lot about the complex dynamics of conflict, fragility, and underdevelopment. These insights inform our efforts to support countries to lift themselves out of the conflict-fragility-poverty trap.

Some observations:

1. Where states have experienced violent conflict, core institutions are weak, and human capital is depleted. Generally in the wake of violent conflict, there is a cohort of trained, mobilized young men—usually with little or no civilian training or education, few job prospects, and facing tremendous challenges in reintegrating into their communities. Societies emerging from conflict often have minimal capacity to address such legacies of war, or to achieve genuine reconciliation. Yet if the underlying factors which drove the conflict are not addressed, the stage may be set for relapse into conflict.

2. Some of the worst conflicts have occurred in resource-rich countries, such as Sierra Leone or the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the transition to peace and development can be particularly difficult. Addressing the barriers to development in



such cases must be informed by a deeper understanding of the full impacts of the conflict on the social and economic system, and of what alternative livelihoods might merit investment to break a pernicious dependence on illicit resource extraction.

3. Sexual- and gender-based violence rises exponentially in conflict-affected countries – and persists at high levels thereafter. Sadly war does not end for women after a formal cessation of hostilities between warring parties. Violence against women is a strong indicator of fragility; it also exacerbates poverty, as the legacy of war may well be many more women bringing up families alone.

4. Each fragile context is unique: the specific causes, manifestations, and degrees of fragility which perpetuate poverty vary widely, as does the pace at which change may be brought about. Responses must be tailored to the specific circumstances. Applying a standard template will not work.

5. Caution is warranted in celebrating early results in post-conflict transitions, as the foundations of lasting stability may be far from built. Fast-tracking elections and supporting transitional regimes, without regard for the wider context of political participation in a society and the polarized relations between different groups, can fuel destructive competition instead of enhancing the legitimacy of government. Adequate time is needed to address the issues that drove groups into conflict in the first place, and to establish infrastructures for peace and reconciliation.

Development Responses to Conflict, Fragility and Underdevelopment

Given what we now know about the complex and mutually reinforcing dynamics of conflict, fragility, poverty, and underdevelopment, what can be done to support countries to move out of the fragility trap and onto a path to development? The international community has been seized by this important question in recent years.

Two recent World Bank World Development Reports have focused on this issue. The 2011 Report

concluded that fragility is best addressed by substantial and sustained investment in strengthening legitimate institutions and governance which can provide security and justice, and is conducive to creating jobs and livelihoods. The 2013 Report focuses on the centrality of work to development. This follows an analysis of worrying trends showing that more than 200 million people, a disproportionate share of them youth, are unemployed and actively looking for work; 621 million young people are neither working nor studying; and 600 million more jobs are needed over the next fifteen years just to keep unemployment rates at their current level.

The European Union has embraced the concept of resilience in its approach to tackling the conflict-fragility-poverty trap, calling for “orienting development models and actions towards strategies meant to build up the resilience of societies,” including the resilience of socioeconomic systems.

The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, agreed at the Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

in 2011, represents further international consensus on how to help fragile states make the transition out of fragility to development. Established with strong support and leadership from the g7+ group of fragile states, the New Deal proposes five

priority areas of goals to achieve its vision: promoting legitimate politics based on inclusive settlements and conflict resolution; security; justice; strong economic foundations - including employment and livelihoods; and improved revenue generation and services.

The report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda recognizes the centrality of peace and good governance to the post-2015 development agenda. This heralds a possible paradigm shift in the way in which the international community could approach development, and is a shift which UNDP has long advocated.

Based on decades of research and development practice, UNDP, in partnership with developing countries, donors, and international organizations, is working to dismantle the fragility-poverty-conflict trap, through an approach which centres on building



the resilience of fragile states, including through support to the peace-building and state-building goals of the “New Deal”.

i) What does a resilience-based approach entail?

UNDP sees a resilience-based approach as a transformative process of building and harnessing the capability of individuals, communities, institutions, and states so that they can direct their own destinies. Resilient societies are characterized by high levels of social solidarity, the existence of common and agreed social norms, inclusive decision-making, and robust and effective institutions.

A resilience-based approach focuses on tackling the multiple dimensions of fragility in a comprehensive way. Note the complex of factors which led to famine in Somalia in 2011. The international response was in essence a response to the drought; yet it was the presence of conflict and the absence of effective governance which turned the drought into famine in parts of the country. If Somalia is to avert famine in the future, then peace, social cohesion, and effective governance will have to be built. That is slow and painstaking work, as UNDP knows to its cost. Our compound in Mogadishu suffered a terrorist attack recently which left eight people there dead, others killed outside, and many others traumatized.

ii) So where to begin?

a) Invest in deep and comprehensive analysis. Development initiatives in fragile states need to be informed by more comprehensive analyses and understanding of the complex drivers of fragility, and of what builds resilience. The latter includes: the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to adapt; their capacity for learning and self-organization; their decision-making processes and dynamics; and their history of collective actions and solidarity. Where organized crime has replaced armed violence, we need a deeper understanding of what maintains criminal groups in communities. Why are they entrenched in these post-conflict societies? Do they in some way carry on the expression of larger fraternal or group grievances?

UNDP is investing in more targeted analytical tools to ensure that the support we give to fragile states is based on rigorous analysis. We are building the capacity of our Country Offices to apply a new Conflict-Related Development Analysis (CDA) tool. We are working on another targeted tool to assess

and analyze institutions and the broader institutional environment in conflict-affected fragile states.

Together with the EU, the World Bank, and other UN agencies, we are revamping approaches to how post-conflict recovery and development needs are assessed and supported. This is building greater collaboration between key development actors on responses to the needs of post-conflict states.

b) Commit to long-term and comprehensive engagement. Support for fragile states will not get lasting results if it is short-term or fragmented. It needs to address all aspects of development, and engage both state and civil society actors and formal and informal institutions. It must be informed by evidence of what works. A balanced response to building resilience will include strengthening institutions, opening up opportunities for economic recovery and work, and promoting social cohesion. Much of this is not new to UNDP, but building resilience as a top priority requires new thinking. Here I offer some examples of what that might involve:

1. Building Resilient Institutions, Encompassing:

a focus on accelerated human capital development. Over the years UNDP has supported programmes to transfer knowledge and expertise to fragile states, especially from their diaspora communities. This is important, but it is a short-term measure. Development actors need to pay much more attention to investing in the vocational and tertiary institutions which will generate the skill sets countries need for the long term.

investment in social accountability systems. While it is important to support the strengthening of state institutions, such action needs to be complemented by a strong civil society and by state-society relations built on trust and accountability. A strong civil society understands how policies are made and implemented and how governance systems operate, and it can hold decision makers to account.

staying the course. Resilient institutions – state and civil society - are not built overnight. As part of the International Network for Conflict and Fragility (INCAF), UNDP is advocating for long-term, co-ordinated investment by donors to support transitions out of conflict and fragility.

2. Building Resilient Livelihoods and Economies:

A first response in the aftermath of conflict may be to set up short-term job creation programmes. This



works as a stop-gap measure, but ideally opportunities need to be created for more sustainable livelihoods and skills acquisition. It is not useful to put people into short-term jobs, create the prospect of restored dignity, and then end them with no indication of where people should turn next.

A good example of how to do better can be found in our work in South Darfur, where a UNDP-supported project, the Honey Value Chain, works with a local NGO. Together we promote peace and provide sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable groups, including women, youth, displaced people, and ex-combatants through environmentally sustainable businesses like beekeeping. As of late 2012, 40,000 people in 45 communities had been helped through this scheme.

Two years ago I visited Southern Kyrgyzstan where vulnerable youth had played a role in the communal violence of 2010 in which many people died. One of our responses there was to work with the local vocational college and employers to get youth into skills training which would lead to jobs.

A major source of support for reviving economies in fragile states is official development assistance (ODA). The OECD has documented that, ODA represents the largest financial inflow to fragile states, followed by remittances and foreign direct investment. Paul Collier has observed that fragile states are capital-poor and often require a prolonged phase of “investing in investing.” A lack of that helps to keep investment away from fragile states--except in the extractive sectors, where those seeking to exploit a resource are prepared to take more risks. Yet that latter kind of investment can encourage a rent-seeking mentality, alongside the criminal profiteering in minerals which generally flourishes through years of conflict and exacerbates it. The movie “Blood Diamonds” was far from being a work of fiction.

Aid to fragile states needs to be very strategic and catalytic in building the broader enabling environment for recovery. For a number of fragile states, however, aid is too small and not well

targeted. The OECD observes that half of the aid directed to fragile states goes to only seven so-called “donor darlings”, and often fails to make a significant impact on fragility and poverty. Afghanistan alone receives more than twelve per cent of the net ODA going to fragile states.

The role of remittances. These are recognized as one of the most stable and important inflows of funds to developing countries. Accurate data on remittances to fragile states are difficult to obtain, given the poor state of their financial institutions and data collection. The World Bank estimates that the total amount of remittances flowing to developing countries including fragile states was $500 billion in 2012. Flexible systems which facilitate the flow of good remittances are needed – alongside the application of tough measures against money-laundering out of fragile states.

3. Building Societal Resilience

State fragility reinforces societal fragility and vice versa. The complex issues, divisions, and social polarization which conflict imposes sap energy and cohesion across groups and between state and society. These cannot be resolved through one-time mediation. Even when we have succeeded in

building institutions, triggering growth, and providing jobs, our job remains incomplete. Economic viability is important, but does not in and of itself lead to social wellbeing and political stability. It does not fully restore the dignity destroyed by conflict. We need to support building the foundations of cohesion, solidarity, and greater unity for states to

enjoy sustained stability and peace.

So how can this be done? UNDP engages in wide-ranging work to build societal resilience including on establishing what we call “infrastructure for peace.” This tends to take the form of formal and informal structures of local facilitators and mediators, backed by local governments and/or communities, which help address the residual issues from past violent conflict, adjudicate past abuses, foster reconciliation, and avert further outbreaks of violence.



For example:

In Timor-Leste, between 2007 and 2009, the return home of refugees and internally-displaced persons (IDPs) precipitated numerous conflicts over land. Left unaddressed, these conflicts could have inspired new violence. With UNDP assistance, a network of community mediators was trained. Their work to resolve conflict facilitated the return and resettlement of 13,000 families by 2010. To reinforce those efforts, the Government, with UNDP support, has established a new Department for Peacebuilding, providing the country with its own mediation system.

In Ghana, UNDP helped establish an independent National Peace Council, which played a vital role in the peaceful national elections of 2008, helped defuse immediate tensions in the aftermath of national elections in 2012, and mediated a ceasefire in the violent conflict in the municipal district of Bawku in 2010. The Council is mandated to mediate conflicts between and among communities at the local level. It can also mediate between political actors and institutions at the national level. The success of the Peace Council’s mediation has contributed to perceptions of Ghana as a stable country, which in turn contributes to its ongoing growth and development.

In Kyrgyzstan, following communal violence in the south of the country and escalating tension after the April 2010 political regime change, UNDP helped establish and then provided support to confidence-building efforts of Oblast Advisory Committees (OACs) at the provincial level and at the Local Authority Advisory Committee level.

After the overthrow of the former regime in 2011 in Tunisia, UNDP was invited to assist the designing of a national consultative process. Key Tunisian stakeholders, within and outside the interim government, received support in crafting a locally-specific and locally-led model for social dialogue to underpin the political transition. The aim is to have a nation-wide and inclusive dialogue which can foster consultation across different sectors.

4. Rebuilding Social and Civic Trust.

Societal resilience is grounded in people’s confidence in the political system and public institutions, and in positive relationships in and across groups. It strengthens legitimacy, inspires hope, and increases citizens’ stakes in the larger society. How can this be done?

First, processes need to be devised for renewing the social contract. This can include the way in which a new constitution or citizen charter is drafted, or launching a dialogue to develop a new shared vision for the country. For example:

In Tunisia, the National Constituent Assembly, elected in late 2011, is drafting a new constitution. The public dialogue to which I just referred is helping to shape the new constitutional arrangements. Public engagement is in itself an important aspect of the democratic and reconciliation processes there. Events in recent weeks and months suggest that Tunisia’s transition is still fragile, and that even greater efforts to embrace political inclusion must be made.

Second, the rule of law and accountability systems need to be firmly established.

In Timor-Leste, UNDP and the UN peacekeeping mission worked to strengthen the rule of law by helping to:

- establish an indigenous dispute resolution system;

- strengthen civilian oversight of the security sector;

- train and strengthen the police force;

- support the electoral system and make political processes more inclusive;

- develop the Constitution, and establish a sovereign wealth fund to ensure that revenues from gas extraction are safeguarded for public benefit.

It is worth noting that after years of intensive international engagement, human development in Timor-Leste is accelerating. Stability has increased, and the UN peacekeeping mission has been withdrawn.

Third, there is a need to enable citizen engagement. Credible elections are an important vehicle for that, although democracy does not begin and end with elections. People’s aspirations for a say on how their countries are governed are also delivered through broader processes of democratic reform. When elections are flawed, or “no more than a façade”, political violence and even civil wars can follow.

UNDP has contributed towards this goal in a number of countries. For example:

In Sierra Leone, a national, multi-party body, the National Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee, was established with UNDP support prior to the crucial 2007 elections, with corresponding local committees. It worked under the auspices of the



Political Parties Registration Committee, whose national and local conflict management capacities were also strengthened. This system was crucial to delivering Sierra Leone’s first ever peaceful political transitions in 2007 and the peace held in the 2012 elections.

In Kenya, a constitutional referendum went ahead in 2010 without violence—a significant step forward from the devastating clashes that had followed the December 2007 elections. UNDP was heavily engaged in the major reform programme set up after the violence. In the run up to the next elections, we also supported training of police, peace councils, and government and civil society in how to use information and communications technology and crowdsourcing to identify potential hotspots and act, through improved security or mediation, to defuse conflicts.

Conclusion

Let me conclude this lecture by emphasizing some key points.

The conflict-fragility-poverty trap is preventing a number of countries from achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and, in general, from getting traction on development. Unless countries can climb out of this trap, extreme poverty cannot be eradicated.

While, overall, civil wars are in decline, devastating conflict continues – not least in Syria. There has been a relapse since 2012 into instability in Mali and the Central African Republic, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the international community has invested billions of dollars in peacekeeping and in attempts to restore state functionality.

These relapses demonstrate how great the challenge of lifting countries out of the conflict-fragility-poverty trap can be. But we also see success stories – not least in Timor Leste where New Zealand has played a role over the past fourteen years.

The post-2015 development agenda, currently under discussion, could promote a transformative shift in our approach to sustainable development which emphasises leaving no-one behind. Building resilience to crisis and shock needs to be at the centre of strategies to achieve that.

In UNDP’s new strategic plan, building resilience is a key pillar. Our aim is to help dismantle the complex conflict-fragility-poverty trap, and enable previously troubled countries to offer a better future for their people. This work needs concerted international support. It will not be possible to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 or by any other date if a proportion of the world’s people continue to live in fear of war, conflict, and armed violence ripping their communities apart.

The United Nations Handbook is a comprehensive guide to the UN system and how it works. The handbook summarises all UN organisations and provides essential information about their aims, structures, and membership.

New Zealand has demonstrated its long-standing commitment and practical support for the United Nations by producing the UN Handbook since 1961. The UN Handbook is a valuable reference guide that helps all states to navigate the UN system effectively.

Mobile app available to download We are committed to making the content more useable and accessible and this year the UN Handbook is also available as a mobile app.

Search the UN Handbook and see the results, with the most relevant first, in seconds

Bookmark regularly accessed information

Go to websites, phone a UN office or email a UN contact – the app is integrated with your smartphone or tablet

Browse all content with the easy to use drawer navigation

Quickly access lists of acronyms and abbreviations

Find UN buildings around the world with maps, and link to your favourite Maps App to get directions

Access information wherever you are in offline mode

PDF available to download PDF version (2MB)

Order a print copy NZ$30.00 (including New Zealand postage) Send a cheque and a note stating how many copies you require and a New Zealand delivery address to: Communications Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Private Bag 18-901, Wellington, New Zealand If you are not able to pay by cheque and require other payment options, please email: [email protected]

http://www.mfat.govt.nz/downloads/media-and-publications/UN-Handbook-2013-web%20PDF.pdf

mailto:[email protected]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=govt.nz.mfat.UNHandbook

http://www.appstore.com/UNHandbook



UNANZ PEOPLE

National Council

National President—Graham Hassall

National Vice President—Robert Mackay

UN Youth President—Sally Wu

Treasurer — Johanna Clayton

National Council Representatives

Izolda Kazemzadeh, Joy Dunsheath

Special Officers:

Mikael Gartner—Humanitarian Affairs Helena McMullin — Peace and Security John Morgan — Human Rights Gray Southon — UN Renewal Valentina Dinica — Sustainable Development

Affiliate Representatives

Bradley McDonald (Esperanto) Izolda Kazemzadeh (Baha'i) Joycelyn Foo (Soka Gakkai)

Branch Presidents

Northern: Michael Shroff and Gary Russell Waikato: Mano Manoharan Tauranga: Gray Southon Wanganui: Kate Smith

Wellington: Robin Halliday Canterbury: Mary McGiven

Honorary Life Members

Margaret Knight, Robin Halliday, Dame Laurie Salas, Lady Rhyl Jansen, Dame Grace Hollander, Ivan Densem, Carrick Lewis, Diana Unwin, Clinton Johnson, Gita Brooke, Mary Gray, Colin McGregor, Kate Dewes, Alyn Ware

Affiliate Members

National Council of Women NZ, NZ Assn of Rationalists & Humanists, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Operation Peace Through Unity, Soroptimist International SW Pacific NZ Esperanto Association Inc., UN Women, Baha’i Community, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), National Consultative Committee on Disarmament (NCCD), Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA), AFS Intercultural Programmes, UNICEF New Zealand, NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), The Asia Network, Australia New Zealand Cultural Centre, Oxfam (NZ), Humanist Society, New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes.

ABOUT THE UNANZ NEWS

The UNANZ News is the quarterly publication of the United Nations Association of New Zealand.

UNANZ News welcomes articles, short letters, and images from outside sources. If you would like to submit an item for consideration, please send it to the newsletter editor Pete Cowley [email protected]

CONTACT

PO Box 24-494 , Manners St Wellington 6142, New Zealand

(04) 496 9638

[email protected]

PATRONS:

His Excellency, Lt General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae, GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of N.Z.

Rt Hon. Helen Clark - Administrator UN Development Programme

WE THE PEOPLES FOUNDATION

Trustees: Pamela Jeffries, John Hayes, Russell Marshall, Graham Hassall.

To make a donation or bequest to the We The Peoples Foundation for the benefit of UNANZ please contact [email protected]

Charities Commission Number CC38918

UNANZ Membership:

Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone: _____________________Email:_____________________________________________________________

Region of choice: Membership Fee:

☐ Canterbury ☐ Tauranga Individual/Family ☐ $40

☐ Wellington ☐ Waikato Student/Unwaged ☐ $30

☐ Whanganui ☐ Northern Affiliated Organisation ☐ $75

Send to: PO Box 24494, Wellington 6142 ☐ Donation: $___________

Note: Your personal information will only be used by the UNANZ

2013 09-12 Newsletter

Documents

Transcript of 2013 09-12 Newsletter