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Programmes
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Upcoming Events
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Calendar of Events: Current calendar of UNANZ national and branch events in New Zealand.
2011 Speech Awards: UNANZ's Annual High School Speech Awards, our theme for 2011 is still to be decided.
2011 National Conference: UNANZ's Annual National Conference will be hosted by Wellington Branch in May 2011. We're looking forward to big things!
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Peace and Security
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 The Charter of the United Nations, premised in the name of "we, the peoples", established the UN with the aim of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
The United Nations Association of New Zealand, committed to realising the vision of the charter, seeks to promote international peace and security. We are committed to promoting such through the UN principles of dialogue, multilateralism, and collective security.
Below you will find features and a series of articles, papers and presentations on relevant issues. For more information or to offer your own comment or research contact our special officer for Peace and Security, Lachlan Mackay.
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Reports from the Special Officer for Peace and Security
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| AGM Report 30/3/2010 - Thursday, April 08, 2010 Recent Events
Reflections Seminar on the World Parliament of Religions
On the 13th of February, the Wellington Interfaith Council organised a reflections seminar at the Wellington Kilbirnie Mosque on the World Parliament of Religions Summit in Melbourne. Speakers included Pushpa Wood, Sister Catherine Jones, Rehanna Ali and myself. 40 people attended including UNANZ Wellington Branch members Gwenda Sutton, Dame Laurie Salas, Robin Halliday and John Morgan. In the latest newsletter there is excerpts from my address but if members would like a copy of my full address please ask me.
NCCD AGM and Robert Ayson Talk
On the 19th of March, I represented UNANZ at the NCCD AGM. I would like to give thanks to Des Brough and Dr Rod Alley who as Co-Convenors have given NCCD their time and energy over many years. They no longer can continue in these roles because of other commitments. I would also like to give thanks to NCCD’s trusty and hard working Secretary/Treasurer, Robin Halliday who continues in this position. 2009 for NCCD was very successful with a busy schedule of events for most of the year. This could not have happened without the commitment of Rod, Des and Robin. After the AGM we were invited to listen to Prof Robert Ayson (Director of the Victoria University Centre for Strategic Studies) talk on Gareth Evans Report: ‘Eliminating Nuclear Threats’. Remember if UNANZ members or Branch Presidents want copies of this report, we have spares in the office.
Tea, Scones and Nuclear Disarmament Peace Foundation Film Hosting
On the 22nd of March, the Peace Foundation hosted the film, ‘Tea, Scones and Nuclear Disarmament’ which was a part of the 2010 Documentary Edge Festival. The documentary highlights the lives of the two 91 year old Waiheke Island Peace Group members Kit and Maynie who have dedicated over 40 years of their lives to peace and nuclear disarmament advocacy. The film depicts their amazing travels from Waiheke to Parliament and from there to England and across the United States of America. After the film we had the honour of reflections from Susi Newborn (the Director), Kit and Maynie while tea and scones were served to us. For more information please visit the website: www.kitandmaynie.com or for a copy of the film please email Susi Newborn: susinewborn@xtra.co.nz
Wellington Branch AGM and Divya Dhar Talk
On the 26th March I attended the Wellington Branch AGM organised by Robin Halliday. AGM was successful where the previous committee: Robin (President), Gerardine Lynch (VP), Peter Cowley (Treasurer), John Morgan (Minutes Secretary), Alyn Ware (Committee Member) and myself (Committee Member) was voted for once again. I would like to congratulate Robin and the team for managing a very active and successful schedule of events for 2009. After the AGM we had Guest Speaker, Divya Dhar (Young New Zealander of the Year) speak to us on Poverty and Peace and her organisation the P3 Foundation which she founded to focus on Peace, Prosperity and Progress - http://p3f.org/
Up-coming Events
We are less than 5 weeks out from the flurry of activity surrounding the international nuclear disarmament conference. The following list of events is scheduled to coincide with the conference:
The IPPNW European Student Conference in Olso – 8-11 April
The Ban All Nukes Generation Youth Debate at Parliament in Wellington – 27/28th April. Organised by the Wellington Office of the Peace Foundation and PNND. Further notices will be sent around shortly.
An International Peace Conference in New York – May 1st
A Rally for Nuclear Abolition in New York – May 2nd
The NPT Review Conference in New York – May 3rd-28th
Nuclear Abolition Day Worldwide – June 5th
For more information on the NPT Review Conference and the surrounding international events or to find out more about how you can support the nuclear disarmament movement please visit the following websites:
www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/
www.icanw.org/
www.ippnw.org
www.enact.org.nz – BANG NZ Events
www.nuclearabolition.org
www.bang-usa.org
www.bang-europe.org
www.peaceandjusticenow.org/wordpress/
The ICAN website (www.icanw.org/) offers a multitude of ways in which you can support the international nuclear disarmament movement including:
- Submitting a video to the United Nations
- Signing a petition: ‘no to Trident, Yes to a Nuclear Weapons Convention’
- Sending a letter urging French President Nicolas Sarkozy to support a Nuclear Weapons Convention
- Signing the Japan Council’s abolition petition
- Sending a letter telling Japan and Australia to adopt a clear vision of zero and
- Sending a letter to the US Congress to support disarmament
I encourage all UNANZ members to visit all the above listed websites to see what you can do to assist the call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. |
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Feature Article
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A Comment on the Responsibility to Protect
By Robin Halliday, Former Special Officer for Peace and Security
The United Nations Association of New Zealand as part of its monitoring of UN Reform has great expectations on the concept of the Responsibility to Protect. Indeed it is seen as a new international norm – the acceptance of an international responsibility to intervene within a State to protect its citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This can include military intervention.
With its genesis in the genocide in Rwanda, its analysis in the Canadian sponsored International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, (ICISS) its sponsorship by the High Level Panel on Threats Challenges and Change followed by its emphasis in the Secretary General's report it was finally endorsement by the World community at the UN Summit in September 2005. The Security Council has since reaffirmed this in a resolution passed on 28 April 2006.
Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility... In this context we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter V11, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organisations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
To quote Gareth Evans (Co chair ICISS and member HLP) in the G8 Summit publication July 2006:
“The security issues that preoccupy the major powers these days involve a heady mix of international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, Islamist extremism, resurgent nationalism and, linking most of them global energy security and nw a Middle East crisis. Which doesn’t leave much room for addressing the great security problem that most worried us throughout the 1990s: what to do about genocide or other mass killing, or ethnic cleansing or other crimes against humanity, committed within the boundaries of a single state.
But this problem is now staring us in the face all over again in Darfur, and we know all too well that it's only a matter of time before it comes at us once more from somewhere else in the world.
The formal embrace by the international community of the new concept of 'the responsibility to protect' - moving away in the process from the incredibly divisive contest between those for and against a “right of humanitarian intervention” - has to be a major breakthrough, and a fascinating piece of intellectual history in its own right”.
He then went on to note that there are still at least three areas of unfinished business that need to be concluded before any such intervention under R2P (as it is now come to be known) can be made.
The first is the need to persuade the Security Council to embrace a set of guidelines for responding. The recommendation is that there be five basic “criteria of legitimacy” to test the validity of any case made for a coercive humanitarian intervention. It is reasonable to assume that if agreed criteria were systemically addressed every time force was proposed a consensus could be reached with less chance of the Security Council being bypassed.
The second is the problem of capacity to deploy and issues of training, command, control and communications capability, transportability and general logistic support. And the third is the on going problem of lack of political will especially when it maybe hard, expensive and long term
There is much wringing of hands and criticism of the UN when such issues feature on our Television screens but less understanding and support for the involvement of the international community to accept responsibility to protect the most vulnerable. We may be seeing this now with the dangers of stationing an international force on the Lebanon and Israel even after a ceasefire and the difficulties of delivering and protecting those most in need
There are reasons to act, not reasons not to act. Those people in Darfur could be you or I and we would expect to be protected. It must become not just a matter of principle but of operation practice.
Sources
(1).“The Responsibility to protect: Unfinished Business” Gareth Evans in G8 Summit 2006 : Issues and Instruments St Petersburg 15-17 July 2006
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Peace and Security Documents
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