NZ Interfaith Group

Religious Diversity Forum at New Zealand Diversity Forum 25-26 August 2008

Registration is now open for the annual New Zealand Diversity Forum, to be held in Auckland on 25-26 August. The focus of this year’s annual religious diversity fourm is on the principles of safety and freedom form discrimination set out in the Statement on Religious Diversity. There will also be a discussion on New Zealand’s Plan of Action to Support the Alliance of Civilizations.  

The forum will be held from 1.30 – 4.30pm at the Aotea Centre in Auckland. Paul Morris, Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University, will give an overview of safety and discrimination in relation to religious communities in New Zealand, and Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope  will discuss police experience and strategies in relation to crime. Islamic Women’s Council member Anjum Rahman and Sikh Centre Director Verpal Singh will discuss the experiences of two visible religious communities, Muslims and Sikhs.     

There is no charge for the Religious Diversity forum, but there is a charge of $50 for participation in the plenary programme on Tuesday. Details of the programme are here and the registration form is here. The NZ Diversity Forum brings together organisations and individuals who have a commitment to practical action to support cultural diversity and foster harmonious race relations in New Zealand. It is the signiture event of the NZ Diversity Action Prorgamme.

The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO is taking a lead role in a project on Religious Diversity in the Pacific. In conjunction with the NZ Diversity Forum they will host a meeting of key Pacific advisers in the area of inter-religious relations, to form an Advisory group. The meeting will be held in Auckland on 26 and 27 August with a view to drawing up a Status Report on religious diversity in the Pacific.  

The Status Report produced by the Advisory Group will examine religious diversity across the Pacific, with special emphasis on religion and human rights, and it is intended that this report will form the basis for further activities in this area, to be undertaken by UNESCO and others. This might include a Pacific statement on religious diversity, commitment to the development of educational curriculum materials, professional teacher activities and ongoing contributions to the work of the Alliance of Civilisations.

The New Zealand delegation to the 4th Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue meeting, 3-6 April, in Phnom Penh, gathered in Wellington on 18 June to discuss ways to take forward recommendations from the Phnom Penh Dialogue.  The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand generously hosted the event.  Also present were officials from the Ministry of Education, Office of Ethnic Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Key recommendations from Phnom Penh discussed by the delegation related to the education curriculum, training on religious diversity, conflict resolution and incorporating the recommendations from the Phnom Penh meeting into New Zealand’s Alliance of Civilisations National Implementation Plan.   

Following their own meeting, the delegation met at the Beehive with Prime Minister Helen Clark where the delegation acknowledged the commitment of the Government to the regional Interfaith Dialogue process.  The delegation presented its report from Phnom Penh, highlighting plans for taking forward the recommendations. The final report of the dialogue is available here.  

The delegation agreed on the value, both domestically and as an international contribution, of continued participation in the regional Interfaith Dialogue process.  Members of the New Zealand delegation plan to meet again in the margins of the New Zealand Diversity Forum in August to discuss where they would like to see interfaith dialogue initiatives heading in the future.  Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that the next regional meeting will take place in Australia.

Māori Language Week is celebrated this week from 21- 27 July. The NZ Baha’i community has been an active supporter of the week, and this year will launch a Maori translation of some key Baha’i writings.  The translation will be presented to the Human Rights Commission in Wellington on 23 July.

Please contact nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz if your group is doing something to mark this event or you would like copies of booklets and resources. There’s some great new resources and there are also awards for the best Māori Language Week activities. We particularly encourage you to submit your activities for the Māori Language Week Awards which will be presented in September. There is a special award for first time entrants, and your programme doesn’t need to be huge to qualify. The organisers are especially interested in innovation – new ideas on how to promote and celebrate te reo.  

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s NZ History website is featuring Māori Language Week here. The site includes a history of Māori language, 100 commonly used words, and the story of the Waitangi Tribunal claim.

Islam Awareness Week (IAW) 2008 is nearly upon us, this time with the theme of 'Strong Families – Better Society’. The week is from 4-11 August, with many events being planned around New Zealand. From Auckland to Dunedin, there will be interfaith panel discussions, academic dinners and cultural fairs and arts workshops as well as Mosque Open Days, for the public to come and experience. IAW 2008 will be officially launched in Wellington by HE The Hon Anand Satyanand, Governor General of New Zealand, on Monday, 4 August 2008 at 10.30 am at the Wellington Islamic Centre. The Launch will feature a recitation from the Holy Qur'an, opening remarks from President of FIANZ, Minister of Ethnic Affairs and a keynote address by the Governor General.  

IAW will also once again involve the presentation of the annual Harmony Awards. The Harmony Awards recognise efforts to improve understanding and harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims and thereby encourage this outcome. The award categories will correspond to the target audiences and there will be local and national awards for non-Muslims. This will be followed by a lunch.  

Islam Awareness Week is the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ (FIANZ) contribtuion to the NZ Diversity Action Programme. Events are organised by FIANZ to increase New Zealanders' awareness of Islamic beliefs, values and practices, and to tackle misinformation about Muslims in a positive way. Please contact Dr Mustafa Farouk mustafa.farouk@agresearch.co.nz if you want further details or visit www.islamawareness.co.nz.

The Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group and Otago Tertiary Chaplaincy present the 2008 Annual Peace Lecture, Visions of Hope for a Terrorised Planet by Dr Kate Dewes, which will be held on 11 August at 5.30pm at the St David Lecture Theatre, University of Otago. The presentation will explore some positive approaches to disarmament and conflict resolution in New Zealand and internationally. Examples will be given of a range of non-violent faith-based actions for change by ordinary individuals throughout the world. The lecture will be followed by discussion and a vegetarian supper. For further information please contact Greg Hughson on (03) 479 8497 greg.hughson@otago.ac.nz or Dr Najib Lafraie at najib.lafraie@otago.ac.nz

Ruth Dyson, Nicky Wagner and other polictical leaders will speak on Religious Diversity in New Zealand ---How it is a part of the settlement of new migrants and the effects on New Zealand society. Saturday, 16 August from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Refugee & Migrant Centre, 201 Peterborough Street. (entrance from the parking lot)   

All are welcome. Koha.  For more information call Rafaa  389-0716 or Dianne 348-9579

The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in cooperation with Tunas Hijau – Kids & Young People Do Action For A Better Earth – are organising the Asia Pacific Interfaith Youth Camp 2008 (APIFYC 2008). The motto for the youth camp is “We care for the World”. In this event, various environmental themes will be addressed. APIFYC 2008 will be carried out in Surabaya, Indonesia, on 27 – 31 July 2008. 

About 100 youths between the age of 18 – 21 years from the participant’s countries of Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue will gather in Surabaya to share their ideas and experiences to cope with climate change. Youth with a high interest in environmental issues from New Zealand will be selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in this event.  

For the first two days of the event, all participants will spend their nights at a camp on Techno Park Bratang. While, on the third night the participants will spend it with selected families in Surabaya. Through this “home stay” participants and chaperones will experience first hand that the families with different religions in Surabaya can live harmoniously. Participants will learn the culture of Indonesia as well, especially Eastern Javanese culture.        

The goals of the youth camp is: to achieve a mutual friendship, cooperation and understanding among interfaith youths of Asia Pacific; to provide youth with opportunities to express their collective opinions and concerns on environment; and to attract new ideas and initiatives from young the generation on how to cope with climate change.