Human rights: New Zealand's 12th Diversity Forum on September 1
Organised by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, the Forum will be held at Wellington's Te Papa Museum with the theme Te Anga Whakamua/ Future Focus 2016.
The keynote speaker this time is Australian human rights lawyer and advocate Deng Adut.
Deng was Kidnapped when he was 6, endured life as a child soldier in Sudan before being granted refugee status by the Australian Government at the age of 11. When he was 15 he taught himself how to read. By the time he was a young adult he was living in his car and putting himself through university. Apart from a leading human rights lawyer across Tasman, he is now a mentor and a community leader.
New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush and Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy will also be speaking at the Forum.
The Commission is also launching New Zealand's first online site “for Kiwis to safely share their stories about racism and prejudice as well as hopes for the future”, on that day.
Other important discussions are on "a multicultural nation in a bicultural context", and on New Zealand's changing attitudes, values and outcomes based on a unique 20-year longitudinal national study.
Importantly, NZ Rugby, which is grappling to tackle the issue of racism on rugby fields, will be presenting "Sports for Everyone".
About the Forum
The New Zealand Diversity Forum is a platform which brings together individuals and organisations to share ideas and good practice on cultural diversity and positive race relations.
Originally created in 2004 following a community response to the desecration of two Jewish Cemeteries, the Diversity Forum is organised and facilitated by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission with a focus on practical action.
Held towards the end of August, the forum is held in a different city each year, having been in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.
A cooperative enterprise, the Diversity Forum is a unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of the different needs, issues and interests of what is the varied and diverse society which make up today’s Aotearoa New Zealand.
- source: hrc.co.nz
