Karanina Sumeo on the need for an independent pay transparency agency
Source: Human Rights Commission Karanina Sumeo on the need for an independent pay transparency agency April 18, 2019 Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo tells her story about being paid $40,000 less than someone who was doing the same job as her, and why it shows we need a pay transparency agency to close the gender pay […]
Read More →United Nations Indigenous Rights Experts to visit New Zealand
Source: Human Rights Commission A group of independent indigenous experts from the United Nations are visiting New Zealand to assist Government and Iwi to develop a strategy and plan for the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The delegation is comprised of members of the UN Expert Mechanism on the […]
Read More →Human Rights Commission supports business leaders’ stand against racism
Source: Human Rights Commission Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt has praised the business leaders who are taking a public stand against racism in the workplace. A group of New Zealand business leaders today published an open letter (www.nzstandtogether.co.nz) calling for a more inclusive country following the Christchurch mosque attacks on 15 March. I applaud […]
Read More →Senior United Nations official visits Christchurch in the wake of the Mosque attacks
Source: Human Rights Commission A senior United Nations human rights official is visiting New Zealand this week to show solidarity and learn, at first hand, how communities and the country are responding to the Christchurch Mosque attacks. Kate Gilmore, the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, will be the first major UN official to visit New Zealand […]
Read More →Putting indigenous rights into action in Aotearoa
Source: Human Rights Commission The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the United Nations in 2007 and supported by New Zealand in 2010. It sets out human rights standards that align with and support our own Treaty of Waitangi and has been described as “a blueprint for implementing Te Tiriti”. […]
Read More →Tackling racism, islamophobia and hate in New Zealand
Source: Human Rights Commission By Paul Hunt, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Following the attack on two mosques, leaving many dead and injured, on 15th March 2019 in Christchurch, the Chief Commissioner spoke at Otago University as part of the University’s Give Nothing to Racism campaign. These are extended extracts, with slight revisions, from the Chief Commissioner’s […]
Read More →New research scrutinises New Zealand’s largest pay rise for women
Source: Human Rights Commission New research by the New Zealand Work Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the Human Rights Commission has for the first time revealed the challenges and advantages of New Zealand’s largest pay increase for women. “The Value of Care – evaluating the impact of the 2017 pay equity […]
Read More →Multiculturalism and diversity is us
Source: Human Rights Commission By Pancha Narayanan and Paul Hunt We are all in sorrow and mourning with the loss of our Muslim brothers and sisters who were targeted in the terrible Christchurch mosque attacks on Friday 15 March. Each of us is grieving. With this grief we will also all be reflecting on what […]
Read More →Race Relations Day a chance to remember the victims and survivors of Christchurch attacks
Source: Human Rights Commission Race Relations Day (Thursday 21 March) provides a chance to remember the victims and survivors of the attacks in Christchurch and reflect on how we can create a more harmonious society, Pancha Narayanan, National President of Multicultural New Zealand says. This year we will mark Race Relations Day with heavy hearts […]
Read More →Paul Hunt: We must give nothing to racism and Islamophobia
Source: Human Rights Commission The calamity in Christchurch demonstrates that New Zealand’s geographical isolation does not protect us from violent, transnational, neo-fascist ideology. For a long time, Professor Paul Spoonley from Massey University has warned about the white supremacist nationalist politics festering in New Zealand. Susan Devoy, our former Race Relations Commissioner, has graphically described […]
Read More →“We condemn violence and hatred of any sort and join the rest of new Zealand in deep sorrow for those affected by these awful events.”
Source: Human Rights Commission The Human Rights Commission issued the following statement in response to the unprecedented violent attacks at the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch from Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt; “The reports we are hearing from Christchurch are devastating. Our hearts go out to the individuals, families and communities […]
Read More →Karanina Sumeo: It’s time to end the secrecy over unequal pay
Source: Human Rights Commission International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on how far we’ve come in valuing, respecting and honouring the dignity of the women in our homes, communities, workplaces. While we are doing better than some countries, gender equality remains an unachieved goal. This International Women’s Day, I’m calling on New Zealand […]
Read More →Family Violence and the Human Rights Act
Source: Human Rights Commission An introduction: Family violence, Human Rights, and other law In New Zealand, the terms family violence and domestic violence are interchangeable and refer to all forms of violence in family and intimate relationships. Family violence is a range of behaviours that are used to dominate or control a person within an […]
Read More →Government seeks feedback on Universal Periodic Review Recommendations
Source: Human Rights Commission New Zealand’s review took place at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 21 January 2019. 77 countries made a total of 194 recommendations to New Zealand on further steps it can take to improve our human rights situation. The recommendations are included in the attached draft report of […]
Read More →Our people, our cultures, our languages – O tātou iwi, ō tātou ahurea, ō tātou reo
Source: Human Rights Commission Race Relations Day on Thursday 21 March provides an opportunity to celebrate and experience many of New Zealand’s more than 200 ethnic communities, says Pancha Narayanan, National President of Multicultural New Zealand. March 21 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which is observed globally to remember 1960 […]
Read More →Ombudsman’s investigations will ensure the voices of people with learning disabilities are heard
Source: Human Rights Commission The Ombudsman’s investigations into the oversight of facilities and services for people with learning disabilities is timely says Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero. The voices of people with learning disabilities have often been unheard or silenced for too long, says Ms Tesoriero. “This is particularly so when people are living in […]
Read More →17 recommendations from the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on disability
Source: Human Rights Commission Earlier this month, United Nations member states made recommendations to improve human rights in New Zealand. There were 194 recommendations. Seventeen of the recommendations were specifically about disability. The recommendations have been published in a draft report. These will be finalised and presented to the New Zealand Government to accept or […]
Read More →“It is imperative we do not lack conviction” — Chief Commissioner
Source: Human Rights Commission By Paul Hunt, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Friends, we live in a dangerous world. In many countries, there’s a pushback against human rights, toleration and respect for cultural diversity. You know the countries. I don’t need to name them. They are not few. This pushback coincides with a time of shocking […]
Read More →Human rights and well-being need to be at the centre of Government’s reform agenda
Source: Human Rights Commission The Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt is urging the New Zealand Government to place human rights, equality and well-being in the centre of its reform agenda. Mr Hunt made the comments in response to the Justice Minister Andrew Little’s submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last […]
Read More →Why it matters that New Zealand could receive its first LGBTI+ recommendation before the UPR
Source: Human Rights Commission By Katharine Woolrych Geneva — Worldwide, the rights of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and sexual characteristics are under threat. Same-sex sexual activity is a crime in 72 countries, and can be punished with the death sentence in eight countries. Transgender people, whose gender identity is different from the […]
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