Unanz newsletter 2013 06

UNANZ NEWS JUNE 2013 ISSUE No 2

UNANZ NEWS

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


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

UNANZ NewsContents

In this issue:

National Conference Report 3

AGM report and results 6

National Council Meeting 18

Post AGM Branch & SpecialOfficer activities and events 19

Valuing the UN 21

President's report 23

Interview with former UN officialSir Brian Urguhart (Part 1) 24

President UN Youth report 28

UNANZ NATIONALLYOBSERVED EVENTS

21 September: International Day ofPeace

24 October: United Nations Day

10 December: Human Rights day

UN INTERNATIONAL YEAR

Upcoming events:



National ConferenceNew Zealand and global security:

expanding the agenda for engagement

17 - 19 May, 2013UNANZ National Conference for 2013, on the theme“New Zealand and Global Security: Expanding theagenda for engagement”, took place in Wellington,17-19 May. The first day, Friday 17th, held at the

Beehive Theatrette,featured a session onHuman Security, the UNSecondary SchoolsSpeech Awards, and a“Hypothetical”, and theday’s sessions werefollowed by aconference dinner atthe IntercontinentalHotel.

Ben Farrell

The first session, onHuman security, with DrRod Alley as chair,featured presentations byBen Farrell (UNHCR),Mikael Gartner UNANZ

Mikael Gartner

Special Officer –Humanitarian Affairs),ChristopherWoodthorpe (Director,United Nations

Christopher Woodthorpe

Information Centre forAustralia, New Zealand andthe South Pacific), andJerry Talbot (New ZealandRed Cross).

Jerry Talbot

The National Secondary Schools Speech Awardsfinals were held at the Beehive on Friday afternoon.The final, on the theme "Water – with increasingpopulation how can the UN ensure watercooperation?", was won by Wellington Boys Collegestudent Tariq Kader.

SSSA Finalists and winner Tariq Kader. Photo: Pete Cowley

Sam Judd, 2013 young New Zealander of the yeargave an impassionedpresentation on the issue ofecology, and how dangerouswaste plastic is once it gets intoour soils and water. Sam is theCo Founder and Events Directorof the multi award-winningcharity Sustainable Coastlines.

Sam Judd

The final session on Friday was a "Hypothetical" onthe topic of "A new state is born". Simon Cleggquizzed a panel on the steps they would take toaddress hypothetical issues that confront UNbodies, national governments, and citizens, inconflict situations.

The panel comprised; Major General Dave Gawn,Chief of the Army, Simon Draper, Divisional Director,United Nations Human Rights and CommonwealthDivision and head of the UN Security Councilcampaign team, MFAT, Negar Partow, SeniorLecturer in Security Studies - Centre for Defence andSecurity Studies, Massey University, Wilson Chau,Policy Analyst, UK High Commission, Aaron Davy,Manager International and workers program, Red


Cross, Jerome Cameron, UN Youth National Vice-President for Communications, Ben Farrall, ExternalRelations Officer, UNHCR Regional Office, Gerardvan Boheman, Deputy Secretary, Multilateral andLegal Affairs group, MFAT, played the role of variousofficials in the scenario. It was an excellent eventwhich highlighted the difficulties of having multipleorganisations trying to coordinate their efforts andthe pivotal role good communications andprocedure plays in enabling this to happen.

On Friday evening 65 guests attended a wonderfulConference Dinner in the Featherston Room at theIntercontinental Hotel in central Wellington. Brazil'sAmbassador to New Zealand, Eduardo Gradilone,addressed the post Rio +20 theme "the world wewant (from a Brazillian perspective)". TheAmbassador commenced with a fascinating accountof the formation of the Brazilian nation. What adelightful way to get to grips with our similaritiesand differences.

The Ambassador's speech was followed byquestions from the floor and much convivialityaround the tables .

Saturday's program covered three themes:

1) New Zealand & the Security Council;

2) New Zealand and Global Security: expanding theagenda for engagement; and

3) NZ and Global Security: perspectives on thefuture.

All the sessions were held at Victoria University'sLecture Theatres and we acknowledge theirgenerous support with the venue.

UNANZ President, Dr Graham Hassall introducedand chaired the first session on NZand the Security Council.

Papers were presented by ColinKeating, Independent adviser onforeign affairs and Gerard vonBoheman, Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and Trade's Deputy Secretary, Multilateraland Legal Affairs Group. Full papers, whereavailable, will be available on the UNANZ website.

Colin Keating spoke on "The UN Security Council:What is in it fir New Zealand". Tobriefly sum up - NZ has a goodchance of winning a seat despitefiscal and electoral constraints. It isno stranger to contested electionsand does not seek election toooften. We have strong support in all


The Hypothetical panelists: (L to R) Aaron Davy, Chris Laidlow, Major General Dave Gawn, Jerome Cameron, NagarPartow, Wilson Chau, Dominique Swartz, Gerrard Van Boheman, Ben Farrell

UNANZ NEWS JUNE 2013 ISSUE No 2talks about the world confronting the cumulativeimpact of rapidly increasing world population,increased urbanisation, resource scarcity including theissue of water management and food security, climatechange and its adverse effects, changes in global powerand economic challenges and financial instability.

It also raises trans-border security issues liketerrorism, people smuggling, weapons proliferationand cyber-crime.

The Ministry of Defence in its parallel Statement ofIntent adds the further strategic risk of greaterfragility of states within the south Pacific.

Kate Dewes presented an update on the currentsituation of nuclear disarmament.Whist the situation is not progressingwith very much speed, there arehopeful indicators. Following avaliant effort by NGOs to publicisethe new findings on the catastrophicglobal consequences for climate and

agriculture of even a small South Asian nuclear war,in 2010 the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) and the Red Crescent picked up the issue ofhumanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon usewith an appeal at the UN General AssemblyDisarmament Session. Until then the ICRC hadcondemned other weapons, hiding behind the factthat no nuclear state had accepted that the GenevaConventions apply to nuclear weapons. Now,drawing upon the 1996 World Court AdvisoryOpinion, the ICRC has called upon states not to usenuclear weapons because of their uniquely horrificcharacteristics, and to pursue negotiations on acomplete ban and their elimination. ICRC speciallycommissioned study found that no national orinternational capability existed to help survivors ofeven a single nuclear weapon detonation.

Michael Powles pointed out in his talk "the challengewe now have, for the first time inour history, is maintaining good andcooperative relationships with bothChina and the United States. Andthe complication, of course, whatcertainly makes this difficult andcould make it impossible, is the fact

that the United States is the current globalsuperpower and China is potentially its rival. Themore intense and antagonistic that rivalry becomes,the harder it will be for us to avoid offending or,worse, annoying either the United States or China."


regions because one of the things that appealsaround the world is our consistency and our honest,constructive and balanced position. We will notattempt to buy votes nor will we shift our policies orour values. Our strong value propositions is that weare fair, balanced, and can take a broad view ofissues.

Gerard von Bohem spoke about New Zealand'scandidacy for election to theSecurity Council and covered whyNew Zealand is standing forelection, the platform for ourcampaign and what we hope toachieve as a member of theSecurity Council if elected.

Long time Wellington UNANZMember and a past President of UNANZ, GrahamKelly introduced and chaired the second session onNew Zealand and Global Security: expanding theagenda for engagement. This was the theme of ourconference this year.

Presentations were made by Kennedy Graham, M.P.,on "New Zealand and Global Security:expanding the agenda", by HelenaMcMullin UNANZ Special Officer forPeace and Security on "Strengtheningthe International Criminal Court" andby Kate Dewes, Disarmament &Security Center on currentdevelopments in disarmament.

The third and final session on "New Zealand andGlobal Security: perspectives on the future" wasintroduced and chaired by UNANZ President ofWanganui Branch, Kate Smith.

Papers were presented by Phil Goff, M.P., SherylBoxall, Senior (Futures Analyst, NewZealand Defence Force) on “In aTurbulent Future – to be Forewarnedis to be Forearmed”; and UNANZPast President, Michael Powleson"Growing rivalry between USAand China-what role for the UN?"

The Hon Phil Goff spoke about how NZ can respondto Global Security issues by helping make the UN amore effective instrument to address and work toresolve those security concerns and pointed outthat the recently released MFAT Statement of Intent2013-2016 describes the current globalenvironment as "one of transition and volatility". It



The 2013 AGM was held on My 19th at the SokaGakkai great room and UNANZ thanks Soka Gakkaifor their generous hospitality.

The AGM's formal business comprised:

1) Approving last year's minutes.

2) Election of officers for National Council, andSpecial Officers. UNANZ welcomes Dr. ValentineDinica from Victoria University into the role ofSpecial Officer Sustainable Development and SimonClegg as National Treasurer (Simon hassubsequently resigned this position to take aprofessional appointment in Fiji).

The Council expressed thanks to Robin Halliday whohas been our National Treasurer for the last fouryears.

3) Gary Russell spoke to his remit on a proposedPeace Memorial at Cassino. The concept was veryinteresting indeed and the idea of a "PeaceMemorial" rather than a "War Memorial" wasconsidered by all to be a good idea. At the centre ofit is proposed to be the preamble from the UNCharter.

4) UNANZ National accounts were accepted and abudget for 2013-2014 put forward and adopted.There was considerable debate about financial stateand our relationship with the We The PeoplesFoundation who manage our bequest funds. Thetreasurer made four recommendations to themeeting:1) The formation of Engagement/Partnership subcommittee comprising Helena, Simon (lead), Kate,Pete and Graham to brainstorm and put forwardproposals to the National Committee. - All agreed

2) Establish ongoing relationships with businessesand MFAT - All agreed

3) Reduce office hours. Recommendation notaccepted. 8 in favour of this proposal and 10against. Graham suggested that more flexible hoursbe allowed by Pete as long as he is contactable inthe core office hours by cellphone. - All agreed

4) Request a release of all the WTPF income toUNANZ. It was considered that a better optionwould be to improve the relationship, have cleargoals and plans for what we wish to achieve – toprovide a 1 page summary of what we haveachieved this year and to clearly state what weneed. There were questions about the return oninvestment that WTPF is currently getting. Moreinformation on the concerns about the WTPFdecision and concern was expressed that there wasno report from WTPF at this meeting and whataccountability do they have. These concerns to becovered in a letter from Graham to WTPF expressingour position and concerns - All agreed

5) President's Report. See Graham Hassall's reportunder 2012 The year that was (p7).

6) Branch Reports and Special Officer reports werespoken to and accepted.

7) Auditor appointment. Accounting for CharitiesTrust reappointed. The need for an auditor is due toour DEUNIF application - any monies granted to ushave to be audited by a registered members of theCharted Accountants Society, so we are not able touse a financial review process with is much cheaper.

8) Membership fees. The increase in membershipfees proposed by the previous National Councilwere ratified. They are:Individual/Family $40Unwaged/Student $25Affiliated Organisation $75Corporate $150

9) Under general business sever items of concernwere mentioned which will be followed up at theexecutive and reported back to the next NationalCouncil Meeting. These comprised:

- we should have better knowledge of whatconventions NZ has signed up to.

- we need a “Communications Officer” to make surewe are getting word out in a consistent, mediafriendly manner.

2013 Annual General Meeting

Reports and results



- it was noted that UNANZ used to meet with thegovernment regularly to discuss issues. This nolonger seems to happen.

- It was noted our public profile is very low – whatexactly is our role? We are uncontroversial so wedon’t get any media traction.

- Concern expressed that if we become an advocacyorganisation our charitable status may bejeopardised.

- Concern expressed about our low and fallingmembership.

2012 - The year that was

The main challenges facing UNANZ in the past yearhave been clarifying the extent of our human andfinancial resources and consulting on the directionof our future activities. We have rediscovered thefact that UNANZ is one of the longest-standing civilsociety organizations in New Zealand, with ourorganization being a direct descendant of theLeague of Nations Union formed in the 1920s.UNANZ emerged in 1946 not as a new, post WWIIorganization in support of the newly establishedUnited Nations, but as the direct evolution of theLeague of Nations Union which had beenestablished in the aftermath of WWI. This is reportedin The Evening Post, in October 1945 (p 6 – picturedat right).

The United Nations is primarily an inter-governmental body established to prevent theoutbreak of war, to promote internationalunderstanding, and to promote internationalcooperation.

United Nations Associations are “people’smovements” in support of these objectives. In thewords of the UN Charter’s first chapter:

The Purposes of the United Nations are

1. To maintain international peace andsecurity, and to that end: to take effective collectivemeasures for the prevention and removal of threatsto the peace, and for the suppression of acts ofaggression or other breaches of the peace, and tobring about by peaceful means, and in conformitywith the principles of justice and international law,adjustment or settlement of international disputesor situations which might lead to a breach of thepeace;

2. To develop friendly relations among nationsbased on respect for the principle of equal rightsand self-determination of peoples, and to take otherappropriate measures to strengthen universalpeace;

3. To achieve international co-operation insolving international problems of an economic,social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and inpromoting and encouraging respect for humanrights and for fundamental freedoms for all withoutdistinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and

4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actionsof nations in the attainment of these common ends.

In giving constant but critical support to the UN as itpursues these goals, UNANZ has an ongoing need toassess where to put its energies and where to focusits attention – for this is not a single purpose orsingle-issue organization. It is at one and the sametime concerned with issues of peace and security,with international relations, with social andeconomic development, with the upholding ofhuman rights, with the sustainable use of the earth’sresources. In addition to thematic interests, we areconcerned with the effectiveness of the structure



and operation of the United Nations system, andwith the manner in which the New Zealandgovernment and people engage with the UN.

Individual members have preferences concerningwhich of these issues to focus on, and theorganization as a whole brings individualpreferences into collective thought and action. Forthis reason we appreciate the activities throughoutthe year of each Branch, of Special Officers, and ofindividual members. Accounts of these activities areto be found in this annual report.

At the last meeting of National Council, in February2013, we reviewed the nine goals of UNANZ, as set outin our constitution, and I include these again here:

1. co-ordinate, initiate and support activitieswhich relate to aims and purposes of the UNCharter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsand the Millennium Development Goals.

2. promote research, information, educationand general public knowledge about the treaties,conventions and resolutions agreed in the UNGeneral Assembly by the governments of the worldand furthermore provide the Government of NewZealand with information as to the evaluation of UNpolicies and actions by the New Zealand public.

3. promote how the UN system works and toprovide general knowledge of the history behind theUN to the New Zealand public.

4. promote the role or the contribution thatthe UN makes towards peace and prosperity.

5. provide the means by which the public mayinfluence development and perfecting of the UnitedNations as an instrument for the promotion of peaceand the prevention of war, the safeguarding of humanrights, and the promotion of the moral, cultural andmaterial welfare of all peoples, and whereverchanged circumstances warrant it, to promote thecorresponding reform of the Charter and of theorganisation, administration and operation of theUnited Nations and its different agencies.

6. promote the establishing of branches of theAssociation within New Zealand, encourage theaffiliation of organisations wishing to participate inthe realisation of the above mentioned goals.

7. co-operate with UNAs in other countries,especially through the World Federation of UnitedNations Associations (WFUNA).

8. co-operate with any organisations orindividuals who are committed to the work ofbringing peace and justice to the world for creatinga global neighbourhood in accordance with theaims of the UN Charter.

9. promote tolerance, understanding, peace,solidarity and co-operation among all peoplesthroughout the world without distinction as to race,sex, culture and language, religion or politicalaffiliation.

I want to record my thanks to so many memberswho have engaged in activities toward these ends inthe past year – and in years past. We owe a debt ofgratitude to Robin Halliday for her tireless attentionto the financial management of UNANZ over thepast few years. We are also grateful for the work ofMary Davies-Colley in her roles as Vice-Presidentand Special Officer for Sustainability. The nationalexecutive committee has functioned extremely well,and in a spirit of mutual cooperation and support. Ireally value – and rely on – the commitment of Vice-President Lachlan Mackay, and other “NX” membersJoy Dunsheath, Izolda Kazemzadeh, Robin Hallidayand Michael Powles. The support given by ourexecutive officer Pete Cowley is central to the soundadministrative functioning of UNANZ national office.

We very much appreciate the activities undertakenby the Tauranga, Waikato, Wellington, Northern,Wanganui and Canterbury Branches, and haveparticipated in one UN Youth meeting also.Voluntary organization such as ours don’t generally“plan succession” but this is something that ourleadership at national and branch levels should lookat, since all organizations necessarily survivethrough ensuring recruitment of the “nextgeneration”. In this past year, accordingly, I havesought to entice new members into UNANZ (and insome cases into administrative roles. This must alsobe acted on at Branch level, since this is a devolvedorganization which seeks to be in touch withcitizens at community level.

Although we don’t have a centralised membershipdatabase as yet, I estimate that UNANZ has 200members nationwide (approximate- perhapsgenerous - figures for 2012: Northern, 80, Wellington70, Waikato 10, Tauranga 30, Wanganui 20,Canterbury 30). However, there is surely no doubtthat a far greater number of people would support



UNANZ should they be aware of it, and be invited todo so. The National Council might offer its thoughtson how to achieve membership growth, as well asexpansion and consolidation of our financialresources.

The year 2012-13 was my first in the office ofPresident of this worthy national organization. Iregret that I have not been able to devote more timeto its stewardship. I have visited the Tauranga,Northern, Wanganui and Canterbury Branches, andhave of course participated as fully as possible inthe Wellington Branch, of which I am a member. Ihave chaired monthly meetings of the NationalExecutive Committee, and have attended a meetingof the “We the Peoples Trust”. Meetings of NationalCouncil have been held as scheduled, in September2012 and February 2013.

I have worked with a task force in planning the 2013National Conference and have met with officials inthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to acquaintthem with UNANZ plans and activities. On October24 2012 the national executive hosted a successfulobservance of United Nations Day at Premier Housein Wellington, with MFAT Chief Executive John Allenpresenting to the assembled guests a speech insupport of the UN Charter and of the work of UNANZ(which is on the UNANZ website and on Youtube).

We have produced a “rolling” three-year plan tochart and coordinate the general direction ofUNANZ activities at national and branch levels. Wehave continued to produce the quarterly newsletterand maintain the website (unanz.org.nz) and havealso established a Facebook page (simply search for“UNANZ”). At the time of Helen Clark’s re-appointment as head of UNDP we did two shortradio interviews.

We have initiated in collaboration with the GlobalPublic Policy Project at Victoria University a series ofevents promoting the UN and global dialogue. Thesehave included presentations to students as part ofthe Victoria International Leadership Programme(VILP), sessions for students in InterculturalLeadership summer courses for students visitingfrom Indonesia and China, and a “Diplomat’sSeminar Series” being offered with the assistance ofKarim Dickie (again, see reports on the Facebookpage). I have recently been invited onto the inauguralboard of the New Zealand Centre for Global Studies,and hope to cultivate a close working relationship

between the Centre and UNANZ.

In recent months we have become interested inlearning more about the origins of the UnitedNations Association of New Zealand, and of itshistory. John Morgan and Lachlan Mackay haveinitiated some research, which has been made easierin recent times by, for example, the digitization ofNew Zealand newspapers. We had hoped to includea session on UNANZ history in the 2013 conferencebut this was not to be, and awaits a futureappropriate occasion. In the meantime, we inviteUNANZ members who have personal knowledge ofactivities at branch or national level to write orrecord what they know for the benefit of futuremembers. We look forward to learning about theideas and the accomplishments of UNANZ during thetime of Prof. Adcock, of Gwen Ryan (first femalepresident, 1975 – 1978), of Kate Smith (2000-2003),Antony Vallyon, Michael Powles (2010-2012), and ofearlier periods of which I have as yet little detail. Thevalue in learning of past accomplishments, ofcourse, is to chart a course in to the immediate andlonger term future. As we contemplate the 9 goalsfor UNANZ as set out in our constitution, we see thatthere is much potential but there are alsoconsiderable constraints. There is great need, forinstance, for close observation and monitoring of UNactivities and NZ engagement, which can in turnresult in more effective policy proposals on our part.There is also an extensive mandate in civiceducation which remains unmet: through collectiveendeavour UNANZ can meet these challenges andcontinue to promote the causes of peace, justice,and development, in this country and globally.

(The following are abridged versions of the Branchand Special Officer reports.

Northern Region Branch Report

Branch Development

The branch had a successful year,hosting a variety of meetings withspeakers and taking part inactivities that reflected members’interests. We continued toparticipate in events such as the

Gary Russell Auckland International CulturalFestival, and we joined up with other organisationsin some of their events. We continued to benefitfrom the efforts and support of a solid core of loyalmembers, and our membership, though small,



remained steady. Our financial position remainsstable, but means that we are restricted in whatactivities we can pursue. We did, however,contribute to a number of different projectsincluding Auckland Peace City activities.

Meetings conducted through the year

Our year started with a well-attended Garden Partywith music from Audrey and Pedro from Chile onthe double bass.

At our AGM, we were fortunate to have AntonyVallyon, a past National President, speak on GlobalChallenges for the Decade and the need for a strongeffective United Nations.

Jacqui Ryan, a field worker from Christian WorldService, spoke to the Branch in April on herinternship with an international NGO at the UN inNew York in 2011.

Other speakers during the year were ChrisWoodthorpe, Director of the UN Information Centrebased in Canberra, who spoke to us in May; GrahamHassall, National President, who came up fromWellington to get to know the Branch in June; andBradley McDonald, President of the NZ EsperantoAssociation and our UNANZ Affiliate Representative,who showed us a 30-minute film in July.

And in October, we were addressed by KennedyGraham, the Member of Parliament for the GreenParty on “Global Affairs in the 21st Century”. Theevent was very well attended, and our thanks inparticular to Laurie Ross for helping to organisethis.

Working with UNANZ Nationally

Several of our members have attended NationalCouncil meetings this year, including Jean-PaulBizoza and Bradley McDonald as Esperantorepresentative, and Bradley also attended theUNANZ AGM.

Michael Shroff, Gary Russell, Co-Presidents UNANZNorthern Region Branch

Waikato Branch: Annual Report

Waikato branch had a veryquite year compared toprevious years.

Our life member MargaretKnight, who had been thebackbone of the Waikatobranch for many years had

been in and out of the hospital.

Although we have members who pay subscriptionsbut when it comes to organizing the projects it isleft in the hands of the President and the SecretaryLinda Holmes.

Organizing the speech competition and the ModelAssembly is not that easy. The reason being theteachers in schools do not get the time toencourage the students to take part in the event. Wehad to send five to six emails followed by five to sixfax, followed by five letters by post and three to fourphone calls to make sure the teachers get themessage and the students get the opportunity totake part in the event.

We had a successful Model UN Assembly and it washeld in the Management School of the University ofWaikato, Hamilton. About 60 students from variousschools took part in the assembly. At the end of theday the feedback form received from the studentsclearly state that they learnt a lot on the day andenjoyed the day and would definitely take part inthe event on the following year.

We also had the speech competition on May 1st2012.

We had been representing UNANZ Waikato branchat each and every citizenship ceremony as well ason ANZAC day official wreath laying service. We alsorepresented the branch at various events organizedby the Hamilton City council and communitygroups. Attending these events give lot of publicityfor the UN Association Waikato branch.

Mano Manoharan, President, UNANZ Waikatobranch

Tauranga Branch: Annual Report

The year has been quite busydespite the limited planning,with 1.5 events per month (i.e.18), in addition to the UNForums. Thanks to all thosewho have participated, andespecially those who have

contributed to the organisation. Thanks particularlyto the executive who have supported our activitiesand kept the show on the road. Not all the eventsconceived came off, and not all were successful, butthere was a willingness to try, which was great. I


hope it all adds up to a stronger communitypresence and appreciation of the UN.

Our youth program, including our two youth execmembers, has probably been the key focus of ourwork, but we are pursuing a variety of ways ofkeeping the UN in the public eye and encouraginginterest in its activities. This requires members tohave some familiarity with UN activities, and aninterest in discussing it.

The UN Forum is very much evolving, taking on verydifferent forms according to the people present andthe issues that are current. People are invited tocome with issues of interest related to the UN whichwe can discuss, and this sometimes results in quitesubstantive action, such as a letter to an authority,and even local action of some type. I hope it willenhance its role as an educational experience formembers and prospective members.

The key issue is that we keep in mind the critical rolethat the UN plays in enhancing peace and justiceand laying the foundation for our future prosperity.

Membership

We have finished the year with a reasonably stablemembership. Sadly we have lost two members:Gwen Ryan and Joy Drayton who died during theyear.

While we have a respectable size of membership, weare reliant on a rather small group that organisesand participates in our activities. We need to findways of expanding our reach into the community,and finding people interested in joining us.

Activities in 2012

Ethnic Festival 17th March. A team of 5 maintained astall and distributed stickers and pamphlets. Therewas considerable interest in the stall, but nocommitment to membership. It was particularlyvaluable to have students involved.

Speech Awards 27th March. We had 6 contestantswith Claire Esterman winning. Daniella Schroder, ourstudent exec member, joined the adjudicating teamwhere she contributed very well.

Merivale Festival 31st March. A team of 3 circulateddistributing stickers to the children and pamphletsto the adults where appropriate. These stickers werewelcomed by nearly all takers.

David Tong Visit. We were hoping to bring David

Tong to Tauranga to speak in schools on hisexperience at the Durban Climate ChangeConference, but we were unable to get sufficientschools involved as the topic did not relateadequately with their curriculum requirements.

Talk to Tauranga City Council Gray Southon made apresentation on Global Perspectives ofSustainability on 26th March. This was appreciated,but was a little beyond their central concerns.

AGM 29th March. While only 13 attended the AGM,there was a strong interest by some new memberswhich produced an executive of 9. Unfortunately theexec has in fact been rather lean, as several foundwork commitments too onerous, one moved out oftown and one has been overseas for much of theyear. We were joined this year by Daniella Schroder(head girl at Bethlehem College), and SpencerVoorend (year 11 at Bethlehem College) who chairedthe model UNs. They had an opportunity to developtheir skills in 2011, and have done very well. Grayalso presented the talk he had given to the CityCouncil at the AGM.

KatiKati Ukelele Festival 21st April. One of our newmembers prompted our involvement in this festivalwith the theme of World Peace and Harmonythrough music. While it was an interestingexperiment it was not really in tune with theenvironment, and attracted limited interest.

Anzac Day Parade 25th April. We participated in theAnzac Parade with Jim Carruthers and ColinMcGregor laying a wreath in memory of the peoplewho served in UN operations.

Senior model UN 5th May, The location was theTauranga Council Chambers for the first time. Thisproved a most appropriate, though rather cramped,setting. The topics were the freedom of the internetand sustainability. Strong registrations gave us 22teams and 62 students. Presentations were madeby the Mayor, Stuart Crosby.

UN Forums These are occasional informal events formembers which are driven by the interests andconcerns of participants. They are held every twoweeks when possible, numbers vary from 3 – 5 andactivity varies from being very focussed and actionoriented, to rather casual. One meeting resulted in avariety of outcomes related to promoting publicityon Rio+20. Another included several youth fromUniversity along with school students and was quite




local MP, however, and he was interested in meetingagain in a year. There has been an exchange ofletters as well, with some recognition of our concernabout the need for government leadership, butSimon’s emphasis has been on justifyinggovernment policies. Some of this has beenpublished in the UNANZ national newsletter.

Intermediate School Model UN: on the 28thNovember Tauranga Intermediate School for thesecond time ran a model UN, this time on HumanRights, that was chaired by our students. Thestudents were more experienced this time, and gotinto the spirit much more quickly. We expect theseevent to continue on an annual or biennial basis.

UN Day event. We had a simple shared meal withdiscussions on sustainability issues, withdiscussions on sustainability in the light of the‘Seeds of Hope’ exhibit.

Youth Program. With Daniella Schroder moving toUniversity, we invited Niamh Blackman of TaurangaGirls’ College to join our executive. She is veryenthusiastic, participated in the IntermediateSchool Model UN and is playing a key role in theorganisation of the Speech Awards. SpencerVoorend will continue

Facebook: We have a facebook page “TaurangaUnited Nations” with 66 members, mainly from ourmodel UN activities. We have covered a range of UNrelated activities, but have yet to get manymembers significantly involved. We are looking atusing it more effectively for the speech awards andthe model UN promotion and preparation.

End of year event. On the 28th November there wasa shared meal with informal discussions. There wasa modest attendance, but good discussion on howthe branch was operating.

Newsletters. There has been only one fullnewsletter this year in July, with more truncated‘presidential notes’ in Feb, Apr and Dec, and anannouncement of events in September. Four issuesof the UNANZ national newsletter have beendistributed.

Letter to Greypower. The Greypower magazinerecently published an article which presented theUN and Agenda 21 as a threat to our rights andfreedoms. A letter was prepared explaining the roleof the UN and Agenda 21 which was distributedaround UNANZ council, but not published by

unstructured. Later in the year they adopted aconcern about the public perception of the UN.There were exchanges with the National President,which have opened up the possibility of cooperativeaction.

The Rio+20 in June has presented a bit of a focus,and was a theme in a number of events. During theconference and we attempted a littledemonstration highlighting the lack of coverage inthe media. Even thought it was ‘choreographed’ bya local newspaper it failed to get published.

Junior Model UN 18th August. Bethlehem College.This was a smaller event with only 13 teams and 45students. The topics were again the freedom of theinternet and sustainability, but the resolution hadto be modified following the experience of theSenior Model UN. Both the model UNs were verysuccessful, thanks to the expertise of the youthchairs.

Sustainability Exhibition: The Seeds of Hope. 18thOctober – 11th November. We supported SokaGakkai (SGI) in presenting this exhibition of 24 2m x1m panels for three weeks in Tauranga. Wesupplemented the exhibit with a panel aboutRio+20. We also prepared brochures to explain therole of the UN in sustainability. The exhibition wasopened on the 18th October by the mayor ofTauranga, Stuart Crosby, with the SGI NationalDirector Jimi Wallace, and UNANZ NationalPresident Graham Hassall. Well over 100 attended.The exhibit was opened to the public and schoolsparties for three weeks until the 11th November in acity arcade and staffed by both SGI and UNATmembers.

Meeting with National President, Graham Hassall.During Graham’s visit to open the Seeds of Hope wehad a dinner where Graham met with members anddiscussed the nature of UNANZ and how it mightdevelop.

Visit to local MP, Simon Bridges (member forTauranga, Minister for Consumer Affairs andAssociate Minister for Transport and ClimateChange Issues). A delegation of seven including fouryoung members visited him on the 16th Novemberto discuss the governments leadership role insustainability action. It turned out to be a difficulttime for Simon and there was limited effectiveexchange. It was valuable to maintain links with our



of the accounts did not find anything amiss.

We have followed our usual pattern of activitiesduring the year, with a Junior and Senior MUN-GA, a‘Welcome to the New Year’ and a ‘Mid- year’ Brunch,International Day of Peace celebrations and a UNday event. However we decided not to hold aSpeech Award event in 2012, partly due to theuncertainty surrounding the proposed re-organisation of the event.

Jenny Duncan, President of the WhanganuiEmployers’ Chamber of Commerce was our guestspeaker at the Welcome to the New Year Brunch.Her topic was “Capitalism – A PersonallyEmpowering Point of View”. She was able to linkcommercial and economic activities with thebroader concept of sustainability ahead of the Rio+20 conference. Those attending were able to enjoygood company, good food, good weather and agood speaker.

The Senior MUN-GA was very well supported with 27delegations from all local schools. The standardswere high in all aspects of the day, which wasenjoyed by staff and students alike. The JuniorMUN-GA had 19 delegations representing countriesfrom all continents. The presence and participationof two delegations from Wanganui IntermediateSchool was most welcome and encouraging.

Our Vice-President, Mary-Ann Ewing, was able torepresent the Branch at the National AGM inWellington and gave a full report back to the branch.

Rio +20 was again prominent in the presentation byour Mid-Winter Brunch guest speaker, Nelson Lebo.Nelson’s topic was “Essential Food and EnergySolutions”.

Nelson is very concerned with living sustainably, andrecycling materials in a way that maximizes livingquality at an affordable cost. He has a column in thelocal press to show that he practises what he preaches!

Our celebrations for the International Day of Peace,were extra- special this year as it marked the 10thAnniversary of the dedication of Handspan, to aCulture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Childrenof the World. Our guests were Dr Kate Dewes andher husband Commander Rob Green who were ableto speak to the local U3A group as well as give apresentation at the Alexander Heritage Library.Kate was our guest speaker at the session held atthe Quaker Settlement, complete with a beautiful

Greypower. Instead, they published another articleessentially repeating the same message.

Activities in 2013

Multicultural Festival The annual stall will beorganised by Roger Hey and Jim Carruthers.

Annual General Meeting, 25th March, 6pm for sharedmeal, with 7pm business. We are privileged to haveMichael Frohlich coming to assist us in thinkingabout how we might present ourselves moreeffectively to the community, and possibly expandour membership.

Speech Awards, 4th April, 7pm Tauranga Girls’College, on the topic of:

With increasing population how can the UN ensurewater cooperation?

Niamh Blackman is playing a major role in theorganisation.

Helen Clark presentation, a Mayoral hosted eventwhich will fill Baycourt. We are awaiting a datebefore moving forward on this exciting prospect.

Senior Model UN, a Crisis model UN is planned inJune in the Tauranga City Council Chambers withthe support of UN Youth. This is being organisedlargely by Spencer Voorend.

UN Forums will continue as is proven viable.

Ten Year Anniversary – 25th October marks ourInaugural meeting. What should we do to celebrate?

Despite our limited resources, I believe that we havebeen able to achieve a respectable performanceand it looks good for this year. However with ourcurrent reliance on a few members we are not reallysustainable and must develop more effective waysof engaging our community.

Gray Southon, President Tauranga Branch

Wanganui Branch: Annual Report

Although our membership is not large, we domanage to get a few new memberseach year. Mostly they attend ouractivities and assist as they can. Itwould be good to have some on thecommittee.

During the year, Ailsa Stewartagreed to take over the duties of

Treasurer and she has done a great job since.Thanks, Ailsa. The auditor carrying out the review



‘birthday cake’. Kate’s topic was “Sustainable peacefor a sustainable future”. This very busy few dayswas rounded off with a supper at Rumah Brooke,hosted by Gita Brooke, giving people a chance torelax and discuss the celebrations.

The film, “Dialogue in Nigeria: Muslims & ChristiansCreating their Future” was shown at a gathering atthe Quaker Settlement to commemorate UN Day.Although the audience was not huge, every one tookan active part in the discussion time after the videowas over. It provoked some serious questioningabout why we seem to find it difficult to sit downand really listen to each other. A worthwhile event.The film was subsequently lent to other interestedgroups. Gita Brooke announced the Afghan PeaceVolunteers (APV) initiative, which appeals to ‘2million friends’ throughout the world to supportAPV’s letter to the UN Secretary-General urging theUN to ‘broker a ceasefire in Afghanistan’. Copies ofthis letter were distributed to different shops/officesand signed by a good number of people inWanganui. This letter was delivered in Kabul onHuman Rights Day, 10 December.

And that brought to an end another year’s branchactivities.

As always, I must acknowledge the tremendouswork carried out by the small committee ofdedicated supporters. Mary-Ann Ewing is doingsterling work organizing the MUNs, Gita Brookeprovides Rumah Brooke as our venue, Pat Paynewillingly does contact activities around the town aswell as taking care of the catering at the MUNs, AilsaStewart has had a steady hand on our finances,while Sara Dickon, Donna Mummery and SherynDerby have provided support as required. Manythanks to you all.

We look forward to 2013 and have already plannedan outline of our programme of activities.

Kate Smith, President Wanganui Branch

Wellington Branch: Annual Report

The Wellington Branch of UNANZendeavoured to provide aninteresting program for its membersin 2012, much of it focusing on theRio+20 Summit on the Future WeWant. This included a majorSeminar in early March focussing on

the topics of particular relevance to New Zealand, aForum on value issues underpinning it such as faith

gender and youth perspectives and a debriefingbringing together 14 New Zealanders who hadattended. Another round-table focussed onRenewable Energy in the Pacific an essentially NewZealand initiative.

We worked with UNANZ to arrange round-tables onthe Responsibility to Protect for InternationalPeace Day September 21 and UNANZ AffiliatesHuman Rights issues on Human Rights DayDecember 10th.

Wellington members were invited to the UNANZAGM and UN Day Reception as well as a number offunctions organised by sister organisations.

Our membership has grown slightly but we do needmore members. This would enable us to hold morehigh profile functions as we could guarantee anaudience. With New Zealand lobbying for a seat onthe Security Council this would seem a good timeto promote what we believe in – an effective UnitedNations. Please help us if you can.

The 2012 programme included

March 2 - AGM with Colin Keating as keynotespeaker giving a very informed overview of thestrengths and weakness of the Security Council inthe seven years he monitored it.

March 8 - Rio+20 – The Future We Want – a Seminarin the Beehive Theatre organised with UNANZ andsupported by MFAT Environment Division withexperienced and informed contributors coveringthe wide ranging agenda for the Rio Summit.

April - Regional Secondary School Speech Award

May - National Finals Secondary School SpeechAward and Forum on Faith Gender and youthperspectives underpinning Rio+20.

August 8 - Debriefing Rio+20 with 14 New Zealanddelegates who attended.

September 21 - Responsibility to Protect Round-table with UNANZ

October 21 - Renewable Energy in the Pacific

December 10 - Human Rights Day Christmas Lunchwith UNANZ affiliates

We also informed members electronically of eventsorganised by sister organisations.

Four National newsletters were sent to members inhard copy and available on the web along with



monthly News updates from the branch. This year isthe UN year of Water Cooperation and it is the Topicof the Speech Award (May 9th) We are planning aseries of Winter lunch-hour forums on this and Riorelated topics.

Finally may I thank my supportive Committee andespecially Pete Cowley for keeping the membershiplists up to date. A special thanks to Gillian Cross ourAuditor

Robin Halliday, President Wellington Branch

Reports from Special Officers

UN Renewal (Gray Southon)

The principal aspects of my workhave been:

1. Assessing responses toclimate change and sustainability

a) followed the DOHA climatechange summit.

b) reported on DOHA for the Quaker Newsletter(attached)

c) lead a Tauranga branch engagement withSimon Bridges which has already been reported inthe last UNANZ news. The latest letter is attached.

d) Negotiating with UN Youth on youthengagement in promoting the sustainability relatedactivities of the UN to NZ parties.

e) Undertook the compilation of an overviewof sustainability related activities in NZ on behalf ofthe Quaker Futures Committee. This will support theyouth engagement project outlined above.

2. Assessed the treatment of the UN in localinternational affairs literature. Found that it wasquite minimal on topics of major importance to NZwhere the UN does have a crucial role. Prepared,with discussions with Michael Powles, andsubmitted with approval of Graham Hassall a letterto the New Zealand International Review.

3. Developing a program with UN Youth forstudents to work on making the connectionsbetween sustainability actions in NZ and thoseundertaken overseas, particularly through the UN.

The program is called: UNANZ SustainabilityConnections, or SusyCon for short.

A series of web pages promoting and explaining theprogram have been designed and are installed onthe UNANZ web site.

4. Wrote a letter to the listener responding totheir feature on the changing values of warhighlighting the role that the UN has played in thedevelopment of the values of war, and of humanrights in general. This was published in the May 11thissue.

5. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Inconjunction with Gary Russell prepared a proposalto the Auckland War Memorial Museum whichpromoted the strengthening of peace promotionthemes in the future Museum exhibits, especiallywith reference to the upcoming WWIcommemoration. These include, in addition to thepeace-keeping activities currently considered, non-violence themes including Parihaka, conscientiousobjection, anti-nuclear policies etc, andcontributions to major international peaceinstitutions such as the League of Nations and theUnited Nations.

Gray Southon

Human Rights (Lachlan Mackay)

Overview of activities:

• 2012 Human Rights Day

• Affiliates Human RightsLunch in Wellington

• Universal Periodic ReviewPreparations

• 2013 Women’s Day Celebrations

• Education Under Fire Film Première

Overview of key human rights news in New Zealand:

• Marriage Equality Act and Gay Rights in NewZealand

• United Nations preliminary comments onNZ’s record on Torture:http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/un-human-rights-body-presents-preliminary-comments-govt/5/154832

• GCSB Restructuring and privacy rights issues

• Human Rights Commission restructuring

• Workers Rights amidst changing legislation

http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/un-human-rights-body-presents-preliminary-comments-govt/5/154832



• Water Rights and the selling of State OwnedAssets

• Race Discrimination and NZ Poll

• Marilyn Waring is awarded the 2013 HumanRights Defender award from Amnesty InternationalAotearoa New Zealand

Overview of key international human rights newsfrom the United Nations:

• 2012 Human Rights Day call by Ban Ki-Moonand Navi Pillay and the launch of the ‘Every VoiceCounts Campaign’:http://s.coop/2012umanrightsday

• Human Rights abuses in the ongoing Syrianconflict and calls from GA, UN SG to halt violence.Ongoing human rights abuses in Israel, Iran, Iraq,African Central States and Eastern Europeancountries

• Optional Protocol to the InternationalConvention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightslaunched:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44835&Cr=human+rights&Cr1=#.UZQrwjY_iUk

• Rights of Women and Children in India andPakistan and high profile. Ban’s calls to halt sexualassault and rape

• Ban’s calls on the respect of rights of Gaysand Lesbians: http://s.coop/rights

• Arms Trade Treaty adopted

• Corruption hurts human rights – call by NaviPillay:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44357&Cr=corruption&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQuSTY_iUk

• Human Rights and the MDG’s:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44261&Cr=MDG&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQujjY_iUk

• UN SG reaffirms call for the abolition of thedeath penalty:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44217&Cr=death+penalty&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQuwjY_iUk

• Lack of social protection for workers:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43892&Cr=labour&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQvDjY_iUk

Humanitarian Affairs (Mikael Gartner)

The following is a compilationof completed and futureprojects for UNANZHumanitarian Affairs since late2012. Please do not hesitate tocontact me if additionalprojects and goals are requiredto meet the National

Committee’s objectives and goals.

Completed Projects:

1. Public Affairs Outreach:

a. Pecha Kucha Presentations by MikaëlGartner in Auckland and Wellington on personalexperiences at the Haiti UN INSARAG Urban Searchand Rescue Response: “Lessons from the DeeplyEntombed.”

b. Graham Hassall to present at Pecha KuchaNight in Wellington to promote the work of UNANZ.

2. Internal Outreach: Update to UNANZmembers on the Hurricane Evan Disaster in Samoa,with information on how to donate to NGOs.

Current Projects:

1. Writing a letter to NZ Fire and MFAT insupport of UN INSARAG classification as a HeavyUrban Search and Rescue Team.

2. Meeting with Red Cross Refugee Services inChristchurch in early February to review theorganisation’s transition from being Governmentrun. Will also discuss how UNANZ can support this.

Ongoing/Monitoring

1. Continuous monitoring of GDACS, IRIN, andother disaster alert networks for disasters in the AsiaPacific Region. In the instance of a disaster, situationreports are reviewed and NGO organisations arecontacted to verify how UNANZ members can assist(usually donations)

2. Review of UN OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDPand the World Food Program for Conventions andRecommendations; and verifying New Zealandposition.

Goals for 2013:

1. Using Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter) to increase visibility of UNANZ to youth,chapters, Government, and NGO organisations.

http://s.coop/2012umanrightsday

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44835&Cr=human+rights&Cr1=#.UZQrwjY_iUk

http://s.coop/rights

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44357&Cr=corruption&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQuSTY_iUk

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44261&Cr=MDG&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQujjY_iUk

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44217&Cr=death+penalty&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQuwjY_iUk

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43892&Cr=labour&Cr1=&Kw1=International&Kw2=&Kw3=#.UZQvDjY_iUk



2. Find Point of Contact and Develop workingRelationship with the following:

a. Government Organizations: MFAT, NZAID

b. NGOs: Oxfam, Red Cross, Refugee Services,RedR, CID and UNWomen.

3. Outreach:

a. Coordinate presentation at TedEx

b. Coordinate outreach presentations toSchools & Universities

c. Presentation at a minimum of 2 UNANZchapters on a Humanitarian Affairs Issues(coordinate with Pecha Kucha and invite members).

d. Contacting New Zealand Universities andpromoting Internships at various UN Humanitarianrelated agencies. (Created a poster handout andforward to University Career centres, post onUNANZ website).

4. Development of 1 position paper for UNANZto forward to NZ Government.

Peace and Security (Helena McMullin)

CENTRAL AFRICA: A GLOBALDISASTER ZONE IN NEED OFOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE

Bearing in mind New Zealandtroops returning fromAfghanistan and the prudenceof keeping our military andcivil defence forces trained,

active and helping, it seems Central Africa is thenext place to be.

Al Qaeda is spreading in West Africa, linking withlocal Islamic extremist groups. Mali is unstable.France has deployed 1,700 men to assist the Maligovernment and more men are being armed locally.Belgium has sent dozens of soldiers, as well as fullystaffed medical helicopters. Millions of peoplealready suffering are at increased risk. It has alsoput 75% of world cocoa supply and a significantamount of gold mined in the region at risk.

n East Africa, Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’sResistance Army (LRA), remains at large despite theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) warrant issued forhis arrest in 2005. Kony is responsible for thedisplacement of more than two million people. Thismonster has kidnapped more than 66,000 children,

killed countless of their parents and family, andforced the children into slavery, often as childsoldiers sent to maim and kill. Kony’s extensivedeliberate cruelty to children goes beyond what themind can imagine. The cost to Africa’s peoples isenormous, they are already struggling. Yet Kony isstill at large.

In October 2011, US President Obama authorisedthe deployment of 100 military personnel intoCentral Africa to assist the African Union initiative of5,000 men to find Kony. He has still not been found.It is clear additional assistance is needed and weare able to help. Bearing in mind our commitmentsto the ICC and to protect children, perhaps NewZealand can contribute to a peace-keeping and aidinitiative to help track down and arrest Kony?

The problem is more complex than war crimes andcrimes against humanity. Central Africa is a red flagin terms of terrorism, global peace and security.With Al Qaeda increasing its hold in West Africa,Kony dominates in East Africa. With their extremeIslamic fundamentalist approaches (Kony partlybases his god rule on fundamentalist Islam) analliance between the two is not impossible. Thiswould make Central Africa one of the mostdangerous global terrorist breeding grounds. Itpotentially already is. Between these two extremistgroups, they could take control of Central Africa; acontinent descending into war. This when Africa is anation of nations already underprivileged andunstable in many respects.

We have a commitment to protect children, we havea commitment to the ICC and we have acommitment to advance human rights globally.Now we need to help Africa. In 2012, Save theChildren reported that one third of children underthe age of five die from starvation. In East Africaalone, 6.5 million children suffer. Of the 80% ofchildren stunted due to malnutrition, the majorityare in Africa.

New Zealand is working to help our children here athome. Internationally, we can no longer ignore theatrocities in Africa. We need to assign moreresources to help Africa’s peoples find peace so theycan prosper. Africa now also suffers from growingextremist terrorism. This is a threat to global peaceand security. To further global peace and justice, wecan and must offer urgent assistance to the Africanpeoples.



UNANZNational CouncilThe National Council meeting immediatelyfollowed the AGM.

Matters arising from the previous Council minutes:

1) Minor corrections.

2) Status of bequest form. This was approvedsubject to some improved wording changes fromHelena. Helena had a family bereavement andhas not been able to complete but she will re-engage with this and seek to have it completedand circulated before the next Council meeting.

3) Membership and Branch formation – importantissues to be dealt with. Need discussion on theattempt to form a Otago Branch – what workedand other ideas. How do we explain who we are,what we are and why be a member – do we needmore information than on the membership form?

4) Letter to WTPF still to be written.

5) Give a little button to be added to website –Pete to investigate how to do this.

6) Action point list to be attached to Minutes.

7) Form for fund-raising that was going to be givenout at the conference dinner needs to becompleted.

8) Full report on our situation for WTPF to becompiled and circulated to Council

9) Proposed two-day NC meeting for last week inSeptember or early October or end of August apossibility. A WTPF trustee will be invited.Suitable dates to be canvassed..

General Business

a. Issues arising from the Conference and AGM

Various delegates commented on how good thisyear’s conference was with the broad range ofinteresting topics and great speakers. TheHypothetical was excellent and in some ways theline up was so good it may be a hard act to followfor the next one. The conference as a wholeworked extremely well.

The Treasurer gave a report on Conference costs andincome. It was tight for money and – Pete will followup those who have not paid.

Next year’s conference was discussed and issues oftiming, location, Theme (focussed or open), format,budget and promotion all need to be consideredearly on.

Various suggestions were made and discussed suchas::

- the AGM and conference should be moved aroundthe branches. Response from most branches wasthat they did not have the resource to organise itcompletely so it would have to be organised mostlyby the National administration.

- A Member of Parliament should open theconference (this year the conference coincided withbudget sessions and made this difficult)

- Friday/Saturday format – maybe have the AGM onthe Friday night and the Dinner on Saturday night.

- Keep AGM and Conference in Wellington forstrategic positioning and access to MP’s Embassies,government departments and academics.

- Possible day with Special Officers withworkshops/reporting.

- Possibly separate the AGM from the conferencewhich could be held later in the year possibly mid-semester for easy of venue bookings. This wasdiscussed but considered not really feasible ashaving the two together encouraged delegates toattend both.

- Suggestion that more members in affiliatedorganisations should be asked to collaborate withus.

- Suggestion that churches should be more involved.

From all of the suggestions and discussions raisedabove, the following was decided by the meeting fornext year’s Conference and AGM:

1) The Conference and AGM will be held together

2) They will be held in Wellington (2014) and ideally,in a branch the year after if a branch volunteers tohold them there.

3) We will consider a three year block.

4) Proposed dates for the 2014 conference are 2-4May. Format Friday, Saturday and Sunday but NONational Council meeting.

http://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/



International Conferences for Nuclear Disarmament- April 2013. Report received with thanks.

ii Discussion item by Gita Brooke. This wasfor information purposes only and did not need tobe discussed.

iii Sara Dicton spoke to her remit on worldoverpopulation (brought over from the AGMagenda). Sara wants to speed things up a bit. Aftermuch discussion and a review of example letter toPope Francis, Gary Russell moved that twomembers of NC work with Sara and Kate fromWanganui branch to finalise a letter. All agreed.

Team to comprise: Sara, Kate, Valentina andGraham.

iv Gray Southon’s discussion on SustainabilityConnections (referred to as SusyCon) ran out oftime but see article later in the newsletter.

Update from Special Officer for HumanitarianAffairs, Mikael Gartner

1) Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre Visit:Jean-Paul Bizoza and I visited the Mangare RefugeeResettlement Centre on the 29th of February andmet with Noor Parkar and Jan Jeffery. We aregrateful for their hospitality and willingness toprovide us with a tour of the Centre. We hope towork with Noor and Jan in the near future. Seebelow for how you can make a difference andwelcome refugees to New Zealand.

2) CID (Council for International Development): OnMarch 12th I met with Jennie O’Donovan, NGOLiaison and Disaster Coordinator, to strengthenUNANZ’s involvement with CID (UNANZ is amember of CID). Closer cooperation with CID hasbeen identified through involvement of UNANZ withthe following CID run programs:

The NGO Disaster Relief Forum (NDRF) and Civil-Military Forum. See below to learn more.


b. 3 year plan

The three year rolling plan was discussed in somedetail. To be added in the column Plan of Action areimplementation target dates for as many items aswe can.

Suggestions of work to add in:

- Define role of Marketing/Communications Officer– consider a resource from Volunteer Wellington.

- Proposal by Wanganui Branch to plant cherrytrees on UN Day working together with Rotary andother groups.

- Peace scholarships by OPTU in conjunction withRotary.

c. Remits

Remit 1 “That the UNANZ invite the Prime Ministerand the Leader of the Opposition to be Patrons ofthe organisation”

Moved: Lachlan, Seconded: Joy Carried

It was noted we need to clearly state our goals andexpectation of the office of patron

Remit 2 “That the UNANZ states its concerns andfears that any attempt to restructure the HumanRights Commission could not only undermine theCommission’s independence but also weaken itsabilities to come to the aid of those whose rightsare infringed upon”

Moved: Lachlan, Seconded: Helena Carried

Noted that the remit needs more backgroundinformation. A letter, with background information,to be circulated to the NC and approved bymajority.

Remit 3 “That the United Nations Association ofNew Zealand endorses Ced Simpson’s proposal forthe collaborative submission on the UniversalPeriodic Review which would will be sent out by theHuman Rights Foundation on behalf of endorsingorganisations.”

Moved: Lachlan, Seconded: Lucas All agreed

d. Section 7 consultation and matters for discussion(Overview)

i Report by Laurie Ross on attendance at

Update of Branch andSpecial Officer

activities since theAGM



Refugee Services – How you can help. Please visitthe NZ Red Cross Refugee Services link to find outmore on how you can help refugees in yourcommunity.http://www.refugeeservices.org.nz/faqs

CID (Council for International Development) -

The Council for International Development (CID) isthe national umbrella agency of internationaldevelopment organisations based in Aotearoa NewZealand. CID exists to support effective high qualityaid and development programmes, with the visionof achieving a sustainable world free from povertyand injustice. To learn more about the Council forInternational Development, please visithttp://www.cid.org.nz/

NDRF is a standing committee of CID. To learnabout NDRF and the Civil Military Forum, pleasevisit http://www.ndrf.org.nz/

Disaster Alerts

Global Disaster Alert Notification System (GDACS) –GDACS is a cooperation framework between theUnited Nations, the European Commission anddisaster managers worldwide to improve alerts,information exchange and coordination in the firstphase after major sudden onset disasters. Visithttp://www.gdacs.org/alerts/ To register andreceive email alerts follow this linkhttp://register.gdacs.org/

Update from Special Officer UN Renewal, GraySouthon

My main effort has been establishing“Sustainability Connections” offering the abilityof students to undertake projects linkingsustainability activity in NZ to that overseas. Thisused a compilation of NZ sustainability activitiesand the resources that the UN provides. A set ofpages has been set up on the UNANZ web site(Check Sustainable Connections on theProgrammes menu). It has only recently beenmarketed by UN Youth, so candidates are yet toemerge. Enquiries are welcome.

Some interesting insights into the operation ofthe UN has arisen in the Climate Change arena.While the General Assembly and the Securityaccept resolutions by voting, many of the othergroups use consensus. While this challengesdelegations to put the effort into a solution that

everyone can work with, it does in effect giveevery delegation the veto, which can inhibitprogress. Last year when an agreement on armstrading was blocked in committee, it was takenup by the General Assembly and passed. In theclimate change conference in Doha lastDecember 2012, protests by Russia wereoverrun by a persistent chair, resulting in theKyoto protocol achieving some continuingexistence. However, during the recent Bonnconferences of the Subsidiary Body forImplementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Bodyfor Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA),the SBI was not able to agree on an agenda dueto disagreements with Russia and its allies. Atthe same time the SBSTA made considerableprogress. Was this a payback, or simply anattempt to force issues bypassed in Doha?

Despite these problems, I find it amazing thatthere are a host of climate change andsustainability conferences continuing , despitethe frustratingly slow pace. Many people seemto have given up on multilateral action.However a major campaigning organisation,Avaaz, has launched a campaign aimed atsuccess at the Paris Summit in December 2015.Avaaz was active in Copenhaagen with 3 millionmembers, and now claims 13 million members,growing at a million a month. Seehttps://secure.avaaz.org/en/30_months_loc_nd/?slideshow. Is this going to be the ultimate inNGO involvement?

Update from Wanganui Branch

We are all in good heart and preparing for our Mid-Winter Brunch in July with the local Ethnic Councilchairperson as our guest speaker.

All are welcome. More details will follow.

Kate Smith, Wanganui President

Update from Tauranga Branch

Preparation for the presentation by Helen Clark onher work with the UNDP provides our main focus atthe moment. We have been working on this forseveral months, and have the support of the Cityand the University of Waikato. We are hoping for amajor civic event to fill the city’s Baycourt theatre. Itwill be followed by a supper for invited guests. The

http://www.refugeeservices.org.nz/faqs

http://www.cid.org.nz/

http://www.ndrf.org.nz/

http://register.gdacs.org/

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/30_months_loc_nd/?slideshow.



date is 7th August at 6pm, and tickets are availableat TicketDirect for $10, adult and $5 child or senior(plus ticketing and merchant charges).

Our Senior Model UN on the 8th June was a highlysuccessful crisis event. The topic was providedgradually through Facebook in the lead-up, but anemerging crisis was notified during the event.Delegates found this a very stimulating experienceand became quite creative in their proposals.Credit goes to our two student exec members,Spencer Voorend and Niamh Blackman, whoplanned and chaired the meeting, and to CharlieLin of UN Youth, Auckland who supported theprocess. The City Council Chambers provided anexcellent environment.

Our Junior Model UN is planned on the 24th Augustat Mount Maunganui College.

This year is our tenth anniversary year, and we willbe planning a suitable event, probably in October.

Update from Wellington Branch

One of the important outcomes arising fromRio+20 was the commitment to ask the citizensof the world to tell the United Nations globalleaders – and in particular the Secretary’sGeneral’s High level Panel - the important issuesthey would like the post 2015 agenda to address.These include job opportunities, education,healthcare, affordable food, support for peoplewho cant work, freedom from discrimination,clean water and sanitation, reliable energy,action on climate change, protecting forestsrivers and oceans, an honest and responsivegovernment, protection against crime, genderequality, phone and internet access, and politicalfreedoms. You are asked to choose 6.

Vote on line http://www.myword2015.org. Orcontact office for voting form. And do explore thewebsite and pass on the information to familyand friends and workmates. It is our world afterall.

Project Syndicate

A world of ideas

by Gareth Evans

Gareth Evans,Australia’s Foreign

Minister for eight years and President Emeritus ofthe International Crisis Group, is currentlyChancellor of the Australian National Universityand co-chair of the Global Center for theResponsibility to Protect. As Foreign Minister, hewas at the forefront of recasting Australia’srelationship with China, India, and Indonesia,while deepening its alliance with the US, andhelped found the APEC and ASEAN securityforums. He also played a leading role in bringingpeace to Cambodia and negotiating theInternational Convention on Chemical Weapons,and is the principal framer of the United Nations’“responsibility to protect” doctrine.

Valuing the United Nations26 March 2013

MELBOURNE – There is nothing like exposure tosmart and idealistic young people to make jadedand world-weary policy makers and commentatorsfeel better about the future. I have just had thatexperience meeting delegates to the 22nd WorldModel United Nations Conference, which broughttogether in Australia more than 2,000 students fromevery continent and major culture to debate peace,development, and human rights, and the role ofthe UN in securing them.

What impressed me most is how passionately thisgeneration of future leaders felt about therelevance and capacity of the UN system. They areright: the UN can deliver when it comes to nationalsecurity, human security, and human dignity. But,as I told them, they have a big task of persuasionahead of them.

Valuing theUnited Nations

http://www.myword2015.org



No organization in the world embodies as manydreams, yet provides so many frustrations, as theUnited Nations. For most of its history, the SecurityCouncil has been the prisoner of great-powermanoeuvring; the General Assembly a theatre ofempty rhetoric; the Economic and Social Council alargely dysfunctional irrelevance; and theSecretariat, for all the dedication and brilliance of ahost of individuals, alarmingly inefficient.

My own efforts to advance the cause of UN reformwhen I was Australia’s foreign minister were aboutas quixotic and unproductive as anything I haveever tried to do. Overhauling Secretariat structuresand processes to reduce duplication, waste, andirrelevance? Forget it. Changing the composition ofthe Security Council to ensure that it began toreflect the world of the twenty-first century, notthat of the 1950s? No way.

But I have also had some exhilarating experiencesof the UN at its best. The peace plan for Cambodiain the early 1990s, for example, dragged thecountry back from hellish decades of horrifyinggenocide and ugly and protracted civil war.Likewise, the Chemical Weapons Convention,steered through the UN Conference onDisarmament in Geneva, is still the most robustarms-control treaty related to weapons of massdestruction ever negotiated.

Perhaps one experience stands out above all. In 2005,on the UN’s 60th anniversary, the General Assembly,convening at head of state and government level,unanimously endorsed the concept of states’responsibility to protect populations at risk ofgenocide and other mass atrocity crimes. With thatvote, the international community began to eradicatethe shameful indifference that accompanied theHolocaust, Rwanda, Srebrenica, Darfur, and too manysimilar catastrophes.

What needs to be better understood publicly is justhow many different roles the UN plays. The variousdepartments, programs, organs, and agencieswithin the UN system address a broad spectrum ofissues, from peace and security between and withinstates to human rights, health, education, povertyalleviation, disaster relief, refugee protection,trafficking of people and drugs, heritageprotection, climate change and the environment,and much else. What is least appreciated of all ishow cost-effectively these agencies – for all theirlimitations – perform overall, in both absolute and

comparative terms.

The UN’s core functions – leaving asidepeacekeeping missions but including its operationsat its New York headquarters; at offices in Geneva,Vienna, and Nairobi; and at the five regionalcommissions around the world – now employ44,000 people at a cost of around $2.5 billion a year.That might sound like a lot, but the Tokyo FireDepartment spends about the same amount eachyear, and the Australian Department of HumanServices spends $3 billion more (with less staff).And that’s just two departments in two of the UN’s193 member states.

Even including related programs and organs (likethe UN Development Program and the office of theUN High Commissioner for Refugees), as well aspeacekeeping activities (which involve more than110,000 international military, police, and civilianpersonnel), the UN system’s total cost is still onlyaround $30 billion a year. That is less than half theannual budget for New York City, and well under athird of the roughly $105 billion that the US militaryhas been spending each year, on average, inAfghanistan. Wall Street employees received morein annual bonuses ($33.2 billion) in 2007, the yearbefore the global financial meltdown.

The whole family of the UN Secretariat and relatedentities, together with current peacekeepers, addsup to around 215,000 people worldwide – not asmall number, but less than one-eighth of theroughly 1.8 million staff employed by McDonald’sand its franchisees worldwide!

The bottom line, as the youngsters gathered inMelbourne fully understood, is that the UN providesfabulous value for what the world spends on it, andthat if it ever ceased to exist, we would have toreinvent it. The downsides are real, but we need toremember the immortal words of DagHammarskjold, the UN’s second secretary-general:“The UN was created not to bring us to heaven, butto save us from hell.



National President

Graham Hassall

President's Column

2013 National Conference

May, June and July have been busy months forUNANZ. I am very grateful to all who were involvedin the highly successful National Conference held inWellington during May 17-19. The smooth running ofthis conference was due to the collegial manner inwhich the conference planning group conducteditself in the months of consultation and actionbeforehand (thanks to Joseph Lane; CourtneyThorpe; Robin Halliday; Peter Cowley; EmmaHolloway; Simon Clegg; and Lachlan Mackay). Wehad to decide, for example, how "high" to aim whenplanning the conference dinner, and to have 65attend that event in the Featherston Room of theIntercontinental Hotel to enjoy the conversation, themeal, and the address by Brazilian AmbassadorGradilone, was most satisfying. Robin Hallidayworked with Branch Presidents to coordinate theSecondary Schools Speech Contest, and thenfacilitated the finals on May 17th, won by TaraqKader of Wellington Boys College. Simon Clegg andhis team put together a highly successful"hypothetical". All the sessions on both the Friday inthe Beehive and the Saturday in Victoria University'sRutherford House were extremely rewarding. Anumber of presenters were interviewed on RadioNew Zealand News:

· (Sheryl Boxall) Defence to investigate 3D printing ofguns(http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/135502/defence-to-investigate-3d-printing-of-guns)

· (Gerard van Bohemen) Optimism about NZcampaign for Security Council seat(http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/135470/optimism-about-nz-campaign-for-security-council-seat)

· (Phil Goff) NZ's China relationship puts pressure onits US ties - Goff(http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/135553/nz's-china-relationship-puts-pressure-on-its-us-ties-goff)

The day after the conference, Sunday May 19th,UNANZ held its AGM for 2013 and the NationalCouncil also met. National Council membersdebriefed on the Conference just concluded, andwhilst it recognizes the merits of convening thisflagship event in the various cities across NewZealand, it also recognizes the advantages ofholding it in Wellington. Accordingly, we have setthe dates 2-4 May, in Wellington, for the 2014National conference.

At the AGM we thanked Robin Halliday for her yearsas National Treasurer. Although we welcomedSimon Clegg as incoming Treasurer, Simon hassubsequently informed us that he is moving to Fijito take a professional position at the Pacific IslandsForum Secretariat and has reluctantly resigned theposition of National Treasurer. Once again, thanksto Robin for so many years of diligent attention tothe financial affairs of UNANZ, and all the best withher continuing work as President of the WellingtonBranch.

One pleasant task arising from the May conferencewas attending Assembly at Wellington Boys Collegeon Thursday 13th June to present Tariq Kader withhis certificate as winner of the UN SecondarySchools Competition for his talk on WaterCooperation. The College will display the trophy fora year until next year's competition.

Also on 13th June I represented UNANZ at a lunchat Parliament hosted by Minister for ImmigrationMichael Woodhouse, in honour of World RefugeeDay. UNHCR and New Zealand Red Cross were co-sponsors of the event, at which Richard Towle,UNHCR Regional Representative was one of theguest speakers.

Diplomat's Seminar Series

In May and June UNANZ collaborated with VictoriaUniversity School of Government's Global Public PolicyProject to convene an inaugural "Diplomat's SeminarSeries" on the United Nations. Representatives of thedelegations of the People's Republic Of China (May 03),Brazil and Chile (May 10), United States of America(June 14) and Philippines (June 21) each spoke of theircountry's experiences with UN engagement. My thanksto Karim Dickie for assisting with the planning of thesesessions. This series is reported on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/events/179056042261828/

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/135502/defence-to-investigate-3d-printing-of-guns

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/135470/optimism-about-nz-campaign-for-security-council-seat

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/135553/nz's-china-relationship-puts-pressure-on-its-us-ties-goff

https://www.facebook.com/events/179056042261828/



Meeting with the Governor General

On 20th June Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparaehosted a reception for the 160 organization of whichhe and Lady Janine are patrons. As UNANZ is one ofthese fortunate organizations, I was able to attendthis event, together with Joy Dunsheath. We wereable to spend a few minutes informing Sir Jerry ofthe activities of UNANZ and he reminded us that hehad been involved in UN Peace-Keeping operationsand said he hoped to have more involvement withUNANZ future activities.

NZ Model UN Conference and Asia-Pacific ModelUnited Nations Conference

In July I represented UNANZ at the opening of the2013 NZ Model UN Conference and also at theopening of the 2013 Asia-Pacific Model UnitedNations Conference (AMUNC), both convenedWellington. UNANZ was one of the event's sponsors,and I made a presentation to the session on"Democratisation in the Pacific" on July 10th.

Sir Brian Urquhartphotographed asUnder-Secretary-General for SpecialPolitical Affairs in1984. UN Photo/JohnIsaac

26 February 2013 –Sir Brian Urquhart,who celebrated his94th birthday inFebruary, is a livingchronicle of a large

chunk of 20th century history.

Throughout his four decades of service to theUnited Nations, starting as one of its very first staffmembers and ending as an Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs, he also helpedshape history-making moments. He was present forthe birth of the United Nations in 1945, and waswitness to many of the Organization’s – and theworld’s – seminal milestones.

All of these easily amount to a front-row seat onhistory. But Sir Brian’s links to history go evenfurther. As a youth, his experiences includeattending a lecture given by Indian independenceleader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi while inprimary school and taking part in the coronation ofKing George VI.

As a soldier in World War II, he was involved in thesurrender of German scientists working in nuclearresearch; he was one of the first Allied troops toliberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; andhe even helped Danish author Karen Blixen, of 'Outof Africa' fame, out of a predicament at the end ofthe war. To top it off, his role in 'Operation MarketGarden' – one of the most well-known militaryactions of the later stages of the war – wasimmortalized in an epic film.

As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in atribute message on the occasion of Sir Brian’s 90thbirthday four years ago, “You have had anenormous influence on every Secretary-General.Even today, staffers everywhere seek to live up toyour example. And you remain one of our wisestand staunchest advocates.”

Here, in the first instalment of a two-part feature,the UN News Centre spotlights the experiences andviews of Sir Brian leading up to the creation of theUnited Nations.

*****

Sir Brian Urquhart was born in his grandfather’shouse in 1919, in Bridport, Dorset, on the southerncoast of England, the younger of two sons. Due toa lack of money, between the ages of six and eight,he was enrolled at a school in Bristol at which hismother taught: the Badminton School for Girls. Inhis autobiography, Sir Brian wrote thatinternational affairs formed a large part of theschool’s teaching, describing it as “an excellentschool with some very un-English characteristics.Of these one of the most important was a

Interview with formerUN Official,

Sir Brian Urquhart

Here, in the first installment of a two-part feature,the UN News Centre spotlights the experiencesand views of Sir Brian leading up to the creation ofthe United Nations - See more at:http://www.un.org/apps/news/newsmakers.asp?NewsID=70#sthash.5evyvI7Q.dpuf

http://www.un.org/apps/news/newsmakers.asp?NewsID=70#sthash.5evyvI7Q.dpuf



unsuccessful painter, actually a rather goodpainter but he didn’t make any money. So I had toget scholarships, which in those days you got onmerit, and I managed to do that.

I went to Westminster which gave a traditional,classical education – that is to say that you learnedGreek, Latin and philosophy. My mother thoughtthat was a mistake, so I did foreign languages. I gotto the top of that at the age of 15 and I had twoyears to go [to finish school].

I was lucky I transferred to the history part of theschool, which was run by a school-master straightout of Evelyn Waugh: John Edward Bowle. He wasan absolutely brilliant, extremely eccentric personwho was able, in some extraordinary way; to getone to write; to get one to think aboutcontemporary problems; to read history in a ratherpersonal way and to see how it all came together.I’m very grateful to this remarkable teacher.

Sir Brian’s six years at Westminster School wereformative. His schoolmaster, John EdwardBowle, had his students read and discusscontemporary books, and would bring in theauthors to address the 16-year-old students.Some of those who spent afternoons engagingthe students in discussion on their booksincluded Bertrand Russell, Arnold Toynbee andH.G. Wells. After finishing high school, Sir Brianattended Oxford University as a HinchcliffeScholar at Christ Church College. His time at theuniversity coincided with various events inEurope and the world in general, from theSpanish Civil War to the Italian conquest ofAbyssinia, which preceded World War II.

UN News Centre: You wrote that WestminsterSchool left you with the ingrained idea on theconcept of service. How is that?

Sir Brian Urquhart: Well, that was true, you know,almost across the whole British public schoolsystem, because the system, as such, was designedto staff a very large empire run by a small, off-shore island. I mean the idea was that unless youwere some sort of kind of a genius, like a musicianor a painter or a poet or something, you shouldconcentrate on the idea of serving. And it wasn’t apriggish idea – it seems to be not a bad idea really– and I think we were very much brought up tothink that unless we displayed some fantasticgenius for something, we would be lucky to be in

passionate anti-xenophobia.” The school wasfounded by the sister of Sir Brian’s mother and herpartner – Aunt Lucy and Ms. Beatrice M. Bake, twoladies who supported the work of the UnitedNations’ forerunner, the League of Nations.

UN News Centre: The thrust of your early educationseems to have foreshadowed the international pathyour life has taken. What influence do you thinkyour Aunt Lucy and Ms. Bake had on you?

Sir Brian Urquhart: Absolutely enormous. Theywere formidable ladies, as was my mother actually.They had a civil belief that the League of Nationsought to work. They didn’t think it would work,because governments weren’t capable of making itwork, but they thought something like that had towork. They had a huge influence. Then, of course,we got into World War II, and it collapsed. But I had

always wanted towork at the League ofNations. By the time Igot there, anywherenear it, of course wehad the war so I wasin the army instead.

Following aneventual transfer to apreparatory schoolfor boys, at the age of11 and at theinsistence of hisheadmaster whoknew of the financialsituation of SirBrian’s family, he satfor what was thenknown as the King’sScholarship exam for

Westminster School in London.

He described passing the exam as a “turning pointbecause it gave me affordable access to an ancientand civilized school for the next six years.”

UN News Centre: About your experience in theBritish schooling system in the 1920s and 1930s,you wrote that “if you were very lucky you receivedthat intellectual stimulus, the essential shot-in-the-arm, that changes the way you think and look atlife” and that you fell into that category. Just howimportant was education for your development?

Sir Brian Urquhart: My father was an extremely

Sir Brian during his service withthe Office of the UN der-Secretaries Without Departmentin 1956.UN Photo



public service, or indeed earlier on, to go into thechurch – the Church after all is a state religion inEngland, unbelievably – or to go into the army, tocome to that. These were the main sources of publicservice. I wanted to be a civilian. And, you know, Ithink it wasn’t a bad idea – although bad luck on allthose people we were going to rule over in thecolonies – so you trained a whole group of people

who would do that, and, incidentally, who would goto some distant part of the world and stay theretheir whole working life.

UN News Centre: What kind of a student were you?

Sir Brian Urquhart: Well, I had to be very goodbecause otherwise I, first of all, wouldn’t havegotten a scholarship to a public school and then Iwouldn’t have gotten a scholarship to Oxford, inwhich case I would have gone and worked in abank. So I was quite a good student!

UN News Centre: You were a top student, beingawarded scholarships throughout much of youreducation, but surely it wasn’t all work and no play,was it?

Sir Brian Urquhart: [In 1937] we had at school oneson of Joachim von Ribbentrop, who was theGerman ambassador in London [and ForeignMinister for Germany from 1938 onwards]. Mysingle, most successful political effort was asfollows: von Ribbentrop’s son took to arriving atWestminster, which is about 1,000 years old and haslots of stone arches, in two plum-coloured MercedesBenz motorcars.

The object of the two cars was so that the twochauffeurs can get out and make a triumphal archand say “Heil Hitler!” I got the boys who livedoutside the school to arrive 20 minutes earlier andwe used to greet this every morning withtremendous laughter and cries and whistles andeverything. It got out of hand and became a famousevent in London and I got summoned and I was toldthat it was an insult to a “friendly power.”

So I had a little bit of trouble talking to theheadmaster about the Nazis being a friendly power.But in the end, I realized that he always goteverything wrong and I said, “do you realize that theGerman Embassy cars are painted the colour of theroyal family’s cars, which are all purple?” He said,“My dear boy, why didn’t you tell me before?!” andsent off an absolute sizzler to the ambassadorsaying this was outrageous.

UN News Centre: That was your first brush withinternational diplomacy?

Sir Brian Urquhart: Absolutely, and it wassuccessful too – unlike most of the others!

UN News Centre: The late 1930s were a heady timewith the dark clouds of World War II starting togather. What comes to mind when you look back onyour time at Oxford University?

Sir Brian Urquhart: Well, we spent most of our timedemonstrating in one way or another. I nearlyjoined the Oxford Communist Party in 1937 becauseit seemed to me that – this was before the Sovietshow trials – the Soviets had done a better job oflooking after the people of the Soviet Union. But Ivery, very soon lost… well, I giggled during thebriefings, so that did it. It was called “bourgeoisdilettantism” and I was shot out – that was good.But then, we were also demonstrating aboutEthiopia – Abyssinia, rather, as it was called backthen – as well as the Spanish civil war, the totalfailure to react to Hitler and the persecution of theJews.

UN News Centre: “Teach us, good Lord, to servethee as thou deservest; To give, and not to countthe cost, to fight, and not to heed the wounds, totoil, and not to seek for rest, to labor, and not to askfor any reward, save that of knowing that we do thywill.” You wrote that even though you are notreligious, these words drilled into your mind duringyour time at Westminster have provided you

Here, in London, the first UN Secretary-General, Trygve Lie,confers with the Executive Secretary of the PreparatoryCommission of the United Nations, Gladwyn Jebb. SirBrian Urquhart worked for both men. (1 January 1946) UNPhoto/Marcel Bolomey


comfort in times of stress. How so?

Sir Brian Urquhart: I think it is the most brilliantdescription of something you ought to try to live up

to – it’s theJesuitprayer. Thefact that onefails all thetime isneither herenor there.You know, ifyou have anidea thatthere’s anenormousgood inhumanityand you

need to do your best to help that along – well, that Isuppose is a sort of religion in a way, it’s a faithanyway – and if you want to know how to do it, thenthat’s a very good prescription.

In 1939, in the wake of Prime Minister NevilleChamberlain’s announcement of war againstGermany, following its failure to respond to theultimatum over Poland from Great Britain andFrance, Sir Brian went to a recruiting office andsigned up to join the navy. Ten days later hediscovered that the papers he had signed were notfor the navy – they were for the army.

UN News Centre: What impact did not joining thenavy have on your life?

Sir Brian Urquhart: I evidently had too much todrink for lunch and I got the wrong form! I had akind of romantic idea that the navy was the thing tobe in, but it didn’t really make much difference. Iwas happy to be in anything by that time. InSeptember 1939, one just felt that, you know, wewere in such a pathetic position in comparison toNazi Germany militarily, that the sooner one gotinto something as such the better, because ifeverybody did that we might have a hope in theend… I’ve always wondered how it was that wemanaged not to lose the war in 1940 – I think weshould have, but we didn’t.Sir Brian was ordered to report to the 164thOfficer Cadet Training Unit at barracks inColchester, before joining the Dorset Regiment

as a second lieutenant and being posted to its5th Battalion in the town of Frome in Somerset.In 1941, after time spent on home guard duties,which included surviving the sinking of aminesweeper escort while on patrol and a divebombing attack while having lunch, Sir Brian wasasked to be an intelligence officer with thenewlyformed Airborne Forces, which aimed todevelop the British Army’s parachute and gliderborne troops.

UN News Centre: The use of airborne troops as afighting force was still in its infancy, with oldairplanes and fairly rough training involved at thatstage in its development. You have said that, deepdown, you actually hated jumping out of airplanes.Yet, it led to a chance meeting with General Dwight'Ike' Eisenhower when winds dragged you and otherparachutists through a line of VIPs. What happened?

Sir Brian Urquhart: It was a big eye-opener for me.Eisenhower then was a completely unknown major-general. He was the first general officer of theUnited States to arrive in England.

Churchill wanted to display what the London DailyMail insisted on calling “Britain’s airborne might” –which was about 2,000 somewhat disorientedpeople like me jumping out of very old aeroplanes,obsolete bombers in fact.

Everything was so weird in those days… what Ireckoned without [was that] I was carrying twocarrier pigeons in a cardboard carton around myneck, because they were our form ofcommunication – we didn’t have radios becauseradios had all these valves and everything, and wecouldn’t carry them in those days, it was notpossible.


During Operation Market Garden,Allied soldiers move past a knocked-out German 88mm gun near a bridgeover the Meuse-Escaut Canal inBelgium. Photo: No 5 Army Film &Photographic Unit

US troops that landed behind German lines in Hollandexamine what is left of a glider damaged during theairborne operation. Photo Courtesy of US Army


2013 National Calendar

July11 National Executive meeting

August8 National Executive meeting

September1 UNANZ Newsletter

14 National Council Meeting inWellington

21 International Day of Peace –(BranchEventsandNationalRepresentation at Wellington Event)

October24 United Nations Day – UNANZ

National Event at Premier House

10 National Executive meeting

November


December

1 UNANZ Newsletter

10 Human Rights Day - UNANZ

National Event


National roundtables or seminars will beadvised when dates and programmes areconfirmed

We [Sir Brian and other parachutists] went straightthrough the line of [watching dignitaries] and then Imanaged to disengage from my parachute and Icouldn’t think what, so I stood up and saluted. TheBritish were all furious. They said “bloody poorshow” and that kind of thing, as if it was my faultthat the wind was blowing at 45 miles an hour!

The general came running over. He said, “Are youalright, son?” I said yes. He said, “Why are youjumping in this wind!?” I said, “General, it was alllaid on.”

And then he said, “What on earth is that thingaround your neck?” I pulled one of these damnedpigeons out and I said “this is to communicate toour headquarters that we’ve dropped safely.” Ithrew it in the air. The pigeon had definitely beenair-sick because it fluttered to a nearby bush andsat there, looking at me and General Eisenhowerwith that awful way pigeons have and occasionallymaking rather awful noises and I burst out laughing– it was too much. And the general burst outlaughing and then said, “I think the United Stateswill have to do something about yourcommunications” and left.

I never met him again, but what a guy! Everybodyelse was muttering about jolly poor show – it wassort of wonderful, very refreshing.

Sir Brian’s parachuting came to end in August1942, when his parachute failed to openproperly during a training jump. His plummet tothe ground left him with broken bones,compacted vertebrae and internal injuries.Asides from agonizing pain, his recuperationincluded being found to have no pulse followingthree separate, unrecorded and maximum dosesof morphine during a hospital transfer; and,being immobile, except for his head and arms,during months spent on his back and head downin a traction bed positioned at a 30 degreeangle. After months spent convalescing, hereturned to the Airborne Forces in April 1943.

Part 2 continues in the September issue



2012 Report to the AGMPROJECTS COMPLETED AND UPCOMING

OVERALL STRATEGY AND PROGRESS

UN Youth has accomplished a great deal since May2012. Our membership has grown to over 4,000 and wehave over 90 staff, each of whom contributesapproximately 612 volunteer hours per year to UNYouth. We produce and host over 30 conferences andopportunities annually. We have 18 fundingrelationships and 22 organisational partnerships. Andour volunteers and members have been recognised inthe top ten communities and groups in at the 2013New Zealander of the Year Awards. We are a youthleader in the New Zealand civil sector recognised bydecision-makers and the community.

NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW AND SGM

Suzy McKinney (our National Vice-President forGovernance) and I completed a constitutional reviewand consultation with all volunteers and members inMarch 2013. This process culminated in April with aSpecial General Meeting to approve the newconstitution. I can confirm the new NationalConstitution of UN Youth New Zealand was approvedand has been provided to the Registrar of IncorporatedSocieties and the Department of Internal Affairs forregistration and confirmation. Once this process iscomplete I will provide it to UNANZ. We are verygrateful for Graham Hassall’s support during thisprocess and I would like to thank him sincerely.

PROTOCOLS

The new National Constitution establishes a new set ofinternational, operational rules for UN Youth to becontrolled and managed by the UN Youth NationalCouncil called “the Protocols”. These rules will includea new Welfare Protocol that will govern all UN Youthmembers, volunteers and guests at our events. Thisparticular Protocol will better protect the wellbeing ofall those who take part in our events, which is

increasingly important as our organisation and ourevents get bigger and more difficult to manage.

It should also be noted that at the next National AGMof UN Youth, in accordance with the Protocols thestructure of the UN Youth National Executive willchange slightly. The biggest changes are a shift inresponsibilities, and the change in title of the otherpositions except the National President. The currentNational Executive is comprised of seven charityofficers: the National President, and six National Vice-Presidents (for Administration, for Communications,for Education, for Finances, for Governance and forRelations). The new National Executive will comprisethe following roles: the National President, theNational Communications Officer, the NationalEducation Officer, the National Finances Officer, theNational Operations Officer, the National RelationsOfficer and the National Volunteers Officer.

REGIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

Suzy and I will personally be leading the next stage ofour organisation-wide constitutional review byconsulting with each regional branch and drafting newRegional Constitutions based on the feedback of theRegional Presidents and Regional Councils.

YOUTH DECLARATION 2013

Our first national conference of the year for highschool students in April was a resounding success andthe best Youth Declaration yet. 144 participants fromaround the country and over 30 facilitators met at theUniversity of Auckland over four days to discuss anddebate 12 different domestic policy areas, and to draftthe Youth Declaration (soon to be published). Wehosted a number of organisations and decision-makers including UNICEF New Zealand, the Royal NewZealand Returned and Services’ Association, Trade AidNew Zealand, local Iwi representatives, Minister forYouth Affairs Nikki Kaye, the Hon Phil Goff MP, the HonJacinda Ardern MP, the Hon Jamie Lee Ross MP, theHon Gareth Hughes MP, the Hon Alfred Ngaro and the


ANTON Smith

President, UN Youth AotearoaNew Zealand

[email protected]



Hon Andrew Williams. Nikki Kaye agreed not only topresent the Youth Declaration to caucus, but also toprovide a formal response to the participants and toUN Youth and we eagerly await this – it is a fantasticdevelopment in the way we empower youth in thiscountry to engage with national decision-making andgovernance. We were also most fortunate to becontacted by the Constitutional Advisory Panel (“theConstitution Conversation”) to participate in the eventand the Declaration will be presented as a formalsubmission on behalf of the event participants. One ofthe distinguished panelists, Hinurewa Poutu – a youngperson herself – ran a workshop with all theparticipants and was presented with the Declarationpersonally. I was very proud of Coordinator JasonArmishaw and his team.

ONLINE COMPETITION

Our online competition is being progressed in thebackground by Coordinator Andrew Chen and NationalVice-President for Education Scott Bickerton. It is avery exciting project and one that will allow UN Youthinto every classroom in this country. It is yet to betested, but the website has been established for free bystudents working at the University of Auckland’sFaculty of Engineering as part of their course work. It isour biggest and best innovation yet.

PROPOSAL: AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND YOUTHDELEGATE PROGRAMME

In conjunction with National Vice-Presidents ScottBickerton and Jerome Cameron, I have met with andpresented a formal proposal to the New ZealandMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Concerns wereraised that included whether the Programme wasoffering anything new compared to the Ministry’sexisting internship programme, the extent of theproposed consultation/outreach tour preceding travelto the UN’s General Assembly and the limited resourcesthe Ministry currently has the power to deploy tooversee the Programme. We have proposed to managealmost the entirety of the Programme and we havepresented draft undertakings future Youth Delegatescould sign to protect the Ministry’s confidentialinformation and the country’s reputation. We continueto wait for the Ministry’s response.

TRUST

Upon further recommendations for edits from theDepartment of Internal Affairs, we are updating ourTrust Deed. This will allow it to gain charitable status.In accordance with our Trust Strategy we will soon be

transferring our existing trust fund from the UN Youthbank account into a new account and investing it inlow risk securities including a term deposit account.This trust will ensure UN Youth’s financial security intothe future and will allow a range of stakeholders toapply for funding once the fund has been developedin the coming decades.

DRAFT NZ RACE RELATIONS REPORT

We were recently asked to provide feedback on thedraft New Zealand Race Relations Report by outgoingRace Relations Commissioner at the Human RightsCommission, Joris de Bres. It was a privilege tocontribute and welcome recognition of youth opinion.Joris has been a stalwart supporter of UN Youth forsome time and it was sad to see him go. We will bemaking contact with Dame Susan Devoy in time toestablish a relationship in a similar vein.

PACIFIC PROJECT 2013

Director Sally Wu will be leading a team of three andten students from around the country on a trip toVanuatu to engage in development work, beforeparticipating in UN Youth Australia’s NationalConference in Sydney in July. I am very pleased withthe plan for the Delegation while they are overseasand UN Youth will continue to look for furtheropportunities in for development work in the Pacific.

NEW ZEALAND MODEL UN 2013

NZ Model UN 2013 will be hosted in Wellington byCoordinator Harry Tothill and his team between 5 and8 July. The event was heavily over-subscribed and weunfortunately have had to turn away a large numberof students. However, we still prefer limiting the eventto 240 students because we are concerned the highquality of the event would be reduced with biggercommittees.

AIR NEW ZEALAND SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL

We are steadily trying to find ways to reduce the costto participants of attending our events, as well as toreduce the cost of volunteering. One such example isa proposal that we are about to make to Air NewZealand regarding the exorbitant amount of moneyour volunteers (and in fact, members) spend on flightsto our events each year. The development of ournational Relationships Register, maintained by the(current) National Vice-President for Relations SarahHamlin, has allowed us to further this processcarefully and proactively because we can control theorganisations and VIPs that our volunteers approach

UNANZ NEWS JUNE 2013 ISSUE No 2for speaking opportunities, funding and other kinds ofsupport. I cannot commend the Relationship Registerconcept highly enough and I commend Sarah for allher hard work and dedication.

VOLUNTEER INDUCTION AND TRAINING

Suzy McKinney has recently completed a VolunteerWelcome Pack in consultation with our NationalExecutive and our National Council. This WelcomePack will provide welcome information for newvolunteers joining our organisation and should makeour internal operations much easier. We have alsoconverted our “National Officeholders’ DevelopmentConference” to the Volunteer Training Hui, to behosted in Wellington in December this year to coincidewith the National AGM for UN Youth and the THIMUNDelegation December Planning Weekend. We hope thisHui will be bigger than in previous years and will allowus to pass on valuable skills and knowledge to newvolunteers.

ASIA PACIFIC MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2013

National Vice-President for Administration Matt Dobbsand the National Executive generally has beensupporting the team organising AMUNC 2013 inWellington this July. Many of our members will beparticipating in and facilitating the conference and weare confident this could usher in new opportunities foroverseas Model UN enthusiasts to travel to NewZealand for events and this is something we may wellneed to prepare ourselves for and cater to.

COLLABORATION WITH UN YOUTH AUSTRALIA

Our relationship with UN Youth Australia is growingever stronger. We have organised numerous volunteerexchanges to National Council meetings for bothorganisations, arranging presentations and workshopsfor mutual improvement. For example, in DecemberSally Wu and I travelled to Brisbane for a week andpresented workshops to UN Youth Australia’svolunteers relating to sponsorship and indigenousengagement. We have utilised advice and experiencefrom UN Youth Australia in our constitutional review,our new Welfare Protocol, and our educationalmaterials, among other developments. We will also besending up to three university-level delegates toparticipate in UN Youth Australia’s 2014 StatesMUNDelegation to Harvard National Model UN. This hasbeen by far our most significant and beneficialpartnership in the past year and I would urge UNANZto forge closer ties with the United Nations Associationof Australia.

NEW UN Youth new zealand WEBSITE

Our National Vice-President for CommunicationsJerome Cameron is investigating the creation of a new,inspiring and interactive website for UN Youth NewZealand. This is a particularly important developmentfor us as our website currently is boring and looksmore like a list of job opportunities.

NEW ZEALAND SCHOOLS’ DELEGATION TO THIMUN 2014

Former Director Sarah Wilson and her team for the firsttime in January this year took 22 students to TheHague International Model United Nations Conference(up from 16 the previous year). This development wasextremely successful and we will be sending the samenumber to THIMUN 2014, led by Director Erin Jackson(current President of the University of CanterburyStudents’ Association (UCSA)). This delegation will beselected during NZ Model UN 2013.

NEW ZEALAND MODEL SECURITY COUNCIL 2013

NZ Model Security Council 2013 will be hosted inDunedin at the end of August this year by CoordinatorMike Peebles and his team. This is our annual nationalcompetition for University students and theCommittee has been working very hard to maintainhigh levels of educational and academic rigour. I haveno doubt it will be another triumph and it is fantasticto see a national event being so well organised in theSouth Island.

MĀORI AND PASIFIKA ENGAGEMENT

National Vice-President for Education Scott Bickertonhas been leading improvements to the way UN Youthengages with Māori and Pasifika rangatahi/youth. Inparticular he has led the establishment of engagementstaff in the Regions to forge closer ties with thesecommunities and their leaders.

DOCUMENT STORAGE: ALFRESCO

National Vice-President for Administration Matt Dobbsand our Tech Officer Ben Hocking have overseen thedevelopment and implementation of our newdocument storage and management system, Alfresco.Alfresco will allow us to keep documents on anationally-accessible site and allow all futurevolunteers to access it. The main advantage is thatdocuments and information can easily be handed overeach year so that we can minimise the loss ofinstitutional knowledge.



UNANZ PEOPLENational Council

National PresidentGraham Hassall

National Vice PresidentsLachlan Mackay

UN Youth PresidentAnton Smith

Treasurer(vacant)

National Council RepresentativeIzolda Kazemzadeh, Joy Dunsheath

Special OfficersHelena McMullin - Peace and SecurityLachlan Mackay - Human RightsGray Southon - UN RenewalScott Bickerton - SO Model UNGray Southon - WFUNA LiaisonValentina Dinica - Sustainable Development

Ordinary MembersIzolda Kazemzedah, John MorganJoy Dunsheath

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

Branch PresidentsUNANZ Membership:

Name: ______________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Phone: ___________________Email:______________________________

Region of choice: Membership Fee:

Canterbury Tauranga Individual/Family - $30

Wellington Waikato Student/Unwaged - $20

Whanganui Northern Affiliated Oganisation - $50

Send to: PO Box 24494, WGTN Donation: $___________

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

Northern Michael Shroff and Gary RussellWaikato: Mano ManoharanTauranga: Gray SouthonWanganui: Kate SmithWellington: Robin HallidayCanterbury: Mary McGiven

Honorary Life MembersMargaret Knight, Robin Halliday, DameLaurie Salas, Lady Rhyl Jansen, GraceHollander, Ivan Densem, Carrick Lewis,Diana Unwin, Clinton Johnson,Gita Brooke, Mary Gray, Colin McGregor,Kate Dewes, Alyn Ware

Affilate MembersNational Council of Women NZ, NZ Assn ofRationalists & Humanists,NZ Council of Trade Unions, OperationPeace Through Unity,Soroptimist International SW Pacific NZEsperanto Association Inc, UN Women,Baha’i Community, Women’s InternationalLeague for Peace and Freedom (WILPF),National Consultative Committee onDisarmament (NCCD), Post PrimaryTeachers Association (PPTA), AFSIntercultural Programmes, UNICEF NewZealand,NZ Educational Institute (NZEI)International Physicians for the Preventionof Nuclear War (IPPNW), The Asia Network,Australia New Zealand Cultural Centre,Oxfam (NZ), Humanist Society, NewZealand Federation of Women's Institutes.

ABOUT THE

UNANZ NEWS

The UNANZ News is the quarterlypublication of the United NationsAssociation of New Zealand.

UNANZ News welcomes articles,short letters, and images fromoutside sources. If you would like tosubmit an item for consideration,please send it to the newslettereditor Pete [email protected]

CONTACT

PO Box 24-494Wellington CentralWellington 6142New Zealand

(04) 496 9638

[email protected]

PATRONS:

His Excellency, Lt GeneralThe Right HonourableSir Jerry Mateparae, GNZM, QSO,Govenor-General of N.Z.

Rt Hon Helen Clark - AdministratorUNDP

WE THE PEOPLES

FOUNDATION

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

To make a donation or bequest to theWe The Peoples Foundation forthe benefit of UNANZ please [email protected]

Charities Commission NumberCC38918

Incorporated Society Number 215914

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