2015 UNANZ Wellington Branch Report to National Council (Baljinder Devgun and Robin Halliday)

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1 2015 UNANZ Wellington Branch Report to National Council (Baljinder Devgun and Robin Halliday) UNANZ Wellington Branch has continued to offer our members, throughout the year a varied and interesting programme. Our Committee members are also very active members of the National Executive and have continued to be proactive in supporting and organising events for the Wellington Branch Members, with other UNANZ branches, the National Council, the rest of the UN Family, other NGOs and affiliated organisations. While this gives the branch more exposure to more events is has also meant a there has been a large and sometimes doubled-up volunteer time commitment to UNANZ. We are pleased we have such a goal-oriented and committed pro-active Wellington Committee. The new President, Baljinder Devgun has transitioned and co-shared the role with Robin Halliday and this has ensured the success of our Wellington events and member concerns Programme to date: 1 Annual General Meeting Speaker Colin Keating 13 March The Security Council The question of the Veto? An excellent speaker well attended AGM and a new president appointed with an expanded Committee. 2 Regional Finals of Secondary School Speech) Award 18 March Judges - Robin Halliday and Linda Singh (former teacher and Branch Committee member) Chair - Baljinder Devgun. 10 students participated and attended. Won by Mira Kaunanidhi - Queen Margaret s College, who then participated in the National finals. Finalists (address sent to entrants). 3 Three Minutes to Midnight Forum in Parliament 31 March Proceeded by a lunch with speakers and a Branch Committee Meeting. Meeting was in preparation for the Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. High standard of debate and reasonable attendance. Report prepared - attached. 4 Shared meal with African Diplomats from 16 different countries 22 April Great chance to meet young diplomats from a range of countries. Movement of Refugees one of the topics discussed. 5 Nationwide visit of Tim Wright ICAN International 27 May Major Anti-Nuclear group essentially to connect with young people in Wellington. Tim spoke at the Hiroshima Day ceremonies; the Peace Council; SGI-Wellington City Council Peace Hui and Victoria University. Wgtn Branch also organised a lunch with Tim. (Separate report attached for Tim s visit). Funded by PADET through the Wellington Branch. Program coordinated by Robin Halliday. 6 National Conference Parliament and Victoria University 5-7 June New Zealand at the United Nations: Fulfilling Nationhood through Global Citizenship

2 Wellington Branch took responsibility for the UNANZ National Finals Secondary School Speech Contest. Judges - Prof Brad Jackson, Joy Dunsheath and Graham Kelly, Chair-Robin Halliday. Standard very high. Winner from Waikato Branch Cheska Saavedra. Addresses printed (See Attached) 7 UN Youth Conference 5-9 July Was Wellington based and supported by Branch and Committee Members 8 Winter Series Sustainable Development Goals 30 June-21 July 1. Izolda Karemzadeh UNANZ Chair-Graham Hassell Beyond Balancing the Scales: the Roots of Equity, Justice and Prosperity for All 2. Eileen Brown, CTU with Pearce Harpham Chair Bal Devgun International Labour Force and the Future of Work And Universal Basic Income 3. Sarah Morris UNICEF Chair Bal Devgun The Future we want for our Children 4. Dr Russell Tregonning (WISE) and Paul Young (Generation Zero) Environment Degradation and Climate Change Chair Graham Hassell Presentation Quality and Standard High. 4 lunch hour forums. Attendance Varied between attendees. 9 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and Hiroshima functions in Japan. Organised and Coordinated by Robin Halliday. Report from Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Phil Goff, Shane Reti, Rod Alley and Emily Watson. (See Attached). Great information session with many issues raised still ongoing Attendance Attended by Former Ministers of Disarmament and PNND Founder Chair. 10 UNANZ and Wanganui Forum Culture of Peace and SDGs 21 September Held at Parliament. Well supported by the UNANZ Wellington Branch and members. Good speakers and good attendance, 6 members of the committee attended as well as Wellington Branch members. Resulted in some speakers being asked to speak in other venues eg U3A where twice weekly meetings are UNANZ Wgtn - International Peace Day Play - Soul of Fire 22 September Attended by over 70. Supported by UNWomen, Ministry for Women & PPSEAWA. Play about Baroness Bertha Von Suttner, 1 st female to win a Noble Peace Prize performance and storyline very good. Good publicity in 2 local newspapers and on Radio in Wellington. Part of a nation-wide promotion for International Peace Day 12 International Peace Day Movie Man who saved the World 22 September UNANZ Wgtn members supported the PNND evening. Phil Goff hosted a film at the Beehive Theatrette. Attended by some committee and branch members, former Governor General, with good MP and Ambassador representation. Followed up with an article in the newspaper

3 13 UNICEF launch of the SDGs 13th October Transforming Our World:NZ, the Pacific & Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Supported and attended by 7 Committee members and many branch members at UNICEF s Parliamentary Launch Report is being prepared th Anniversary UN Day Reception Government House 22 October Coordinated by Izolda and Pete. Well attended by many members, joined by representatives from many organisations to celebrate New Zealand s 70 year membership of the UN UNANZ Diplomatic Series 29 Oct-26 Nov Diplomacy, the United Nations and Fulfilling Nationhood through Global Citizenship UNANZ National programme organised by Joy Dunseath. Ambasadors from Mexico, Israel, France, Brazil, and South Africa. Wellington Branch members strongly encouraged to attend 16 Dinner with latest group of African Diplomats 12 November Informative about not so well known countries. Leads to future-oriented networks being formed. Dinner will follow the Diplomatic Series French Ambassador s talk, on the same day 17 Human Rights Day 10 December Being organised by John Morgan 18 UNANZ Wellington Branch Christmas Lunch Programme (TBC 15 Dec) Options being considered Governance: 4 Wellington Branch Executive Meetings held this year Well-known branch with a well-established and wide-reaching network of Committee Member. New President and expanded Committee have opened up new networks for connection Noted some lack of clarity between Wellington Branch events and Regional or National events and the area/membership we represent. Request - Wellington Branch is kept informed at the initial planning stage and acknowledged and/or respected for its Regional commitments and responsibilities to the National Committee and other Branches Research and Public Education Actively promoting and supporting all Wellington events through traditional method, electronic and social media. Indication of numbers attending, media coverage and details included above. Access to key NZ and International Public Figures, Academics and visiting Researchers. Members are generally very good at keeping aware of topical issues

4 and events. All events are generally focused on presenting with a well researchbased and good grounds for public education approach Invited presenters are generally experts in their field, well researched and present their topics well. Our focus is ideally on having presenters with relevant experience in the UN system. We are fortunate to have a Helen Clark connection Promoting and supporting National President, Graham Hassell with his Wellington High School Community Education and Victoria University Public Education Events in September and 18 November Strong support and connections to Victoria University, UN Youth, UN Women, UN Youth for Women, UNESCO and UNICEF Expanded into social media promotion and capturing events. Receiving more interest from a younger audience. Receiving good media and social media attention both nationally and internationally. UN Reform: AGM topic addressed reform of the Security Council Speaker Colin Keating Will like to have held a seminar on UN Reforms ten years on from In Larger Freedom. Have papers from the major programme we held in Could be a topic for next year along with R2P perhaps in relation to Syria Growth and Consolidation: Current Membership Membership stable, but have recently had more varied attendance, due to more social media promotion of our branch activities Membership is stable but not what we would like it to be. Our older members pay a subscription but do not usually attend functions. Others attend functions and do not pay a subscription A common problem but some have overcome it. It is partly a generational issue Will like to move to electronic invitations as well as direct ing 3 Branch newsletters circulated this year, with other numerous promotions to support other UNANZ events. Some newsletters are still posted due to individual member requirements. All events supported are done with UNANZ promotional material available, generally at the point of public entry 2 UNANZ facebook pages One has 498 friends other has a following of 1,231 o Extra time required to manage these pages Need to clarify managers responsibilities of these pages for the Wellington Branch. Would prefer this is coordinated through National Committee, to avoid overlapping and keep clarity of promotion of events Networks Strong Networks with the rest of the Wellington-based UN family i.e. UN Youth, UN Women, UN Youth for Women, UNESCO and UNICEF All Committee members have in some way been involved in activities with these organisation as well as other NGOs and Government Organisation

5 Good outreach and support to the other Regional Branches with the co-coordination of events through long-term well-established networks Current priority - nurture existing networks, will look into expanding network as topics and issue come to hand through the following year. UN Banner Days Strongly supported and promoted by Wellington Branch, with noted overall responsibility by the National Committee. Wellington Branch members actively helping organise and attend most events