Kia ora te whānau - and I do feel like I’m talking to family here. We’ve been through a good few years together. I look forward to seeing many of you at our biennial Conference, and hope you also enjoy the chance to get together with like-minded people. As NCWNZ transitions to new leadership, some things will change - and many things will continue because they are core to our mahi, our values, our collective kaupapa.

NCWNZ is not defined by any single person but by our legacy that is built on, year after year after year. For 130 years, so far! If we were simply “Kate Sheppard’s” group, then we would have faded many years ago. Instead, there have been many remarkable women contributing to the mahi. We have changed their approach as society changed around us while staying true to core advocacy for eliminating discrimination against women and making gender equality a reality in Aotearoa.

After considering a State party’s report, the UN CEDAW Committee selects up to four sub- paragraphs from its concluding observations and requires the State party to report back on progress within two years. This is known as the follow-up procedure.

The procedure allows NGOs to submit their own information for the Committee’s consideration. Submissions must not exceed 3,300 words (including footnotes) and are due four weeks before the session at which the State party’s follow-up report will be assessed. A date has not yet been announced for New Zealand’s md-term report.

Wāhine is a 3.7-metre-tall bronze sculpture on Victoria Street West in Auckland CBD, depicting a Māori woman performing a karanga call of welcome. The statue is located near the north-eastern exit of the Te Waihorotiu Station on Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD, and faces up the hill toward toward this new station for the City Rail Line. The figure stands on a low basalt plinth, wears a korowai, woven cloak, and hei tiki, pendant, and carries kawakawa leaves, a sacred tapu plant. She is positioned to greet people as they emerge from the station - and her mouth is open as if she is singing. 

Wāhine, photo by Rich Greissman

This year, NCWNZ is proud to be partnering with Power Up! Game Jam and promoting this amazing, fun and free event designed to encourage women and non-binary people into the computer games industry. Computer gaming is an important and thriving segment of the software development sector, and more and more young women are keen to break into this multi-million dollar industry. Encouraging more women into this field is another way we can promote gender equality in the STEM disciplines.

With the potential merger of UN Women and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Geneva encouraged dialog and consultations for potential solutions. On 31 July 2026, the NGO Committee held a hackathon, inviting all to contribute their ideas to a single document. There were nearly 90 different statements with many insightful views and diverse perspectives. The final statement recorded left a sting: 'Questions need to be asked about why it is UN Women and UNFPA that have been highlighted for merger - why not other agencies.'