Pages tagged “issue656”

  • President's Kōrero, April 2026

    Salom, Shalom, Nei Hou, Ni hao The past two months have been a whirlwind of International Women’s Day activities and preparing for the end of the financial year and the annual reporting process. The operational business of focusing on what we have achieved last year is a good reflective process, particularly when it informs our future directions. The Board is continuing to consider our strategic direction and prepare for the transitions ahead. Last Circular I talked about the organisational value...

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    26 April 2026

  • Beads & Bubbles Night - Wellington National Council of Women

    Our recent beading night brought together 44 people for a sold-out, feel-good Friday evening. With a table full of colourful beads there were endless options for creating creative jewelry. The atmosphere quickly became lively, with people chatting, laughing, and comparing designs as they worked on their jewellery. We added a light touch with a few beading facts displayed around the room, highlighting how beadwork is used in different cultures worldwide. They were there for anyone interested, without taking away from...

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    26 April 2026

  • Women Power Forum 2026 in Hong Kong

    NCWNZ was invited and funded to attend the Women Power Forum by the Hong Kong Federation of Women (HKFW). Suzanne Manning and Kerri Du Pont represented NCWNZ at this Forum which was held on 1-2 April 2026. The Women Power Forum is a biennial event hosted by the HKFW and co-organised by the Golden Bauhinia Women Entrepreneur Association. It focused on women’s empowerment, bringing together leaders from different sectors in Hong Kong, China, and internationally for networking and sharing ideas. This...

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    26 April 2026

  • He taonga

    The Board recently had the Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko I Te Ora | Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL) brooch repaired. The clasp was loose and the safety chain was broken, and therefore in danger of being lost when worn. As a tohu – a symbol – of the long-standing relationship between the MWWL and NCWNZ, this was a risk the Board did not want to take. Thank you to Jubilee Jewellers in Wellington for doing this work.

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    22 April 2026

  • International Action Hub Strategy Update

    What Happened in 2025? 2025 was a busy and impactful year for the International Action Hub - with key highlights including:  Organising the third Women at the Table on Climate Change event in May 2025, in partnership with the Council of International Development and UN Women Aotearoa New Zealand.  This was a hybrid event chaired by Madison Walker CEO UN Women NZ and Eva Hartshorn-Sanders, convenor of the International Action Hub of NCWNZ (we stepped in at the last minute...

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    15 April 2026

  • Pay equity in New Zealand and international treaties

    In May 2025 the New Zealand Government chose to overturn our formerly world-leading pay equity legislation. The changes had been in the works for nearly a year, and the People's Select Committee on Pay Equity (PSCPE) formed in February 2024 as an organised voice for the communities affected by the law. Many submitters to the PSCPE reported human rights violations due to both the Equal Pay Amendment Bill’s content and its legislative process. In the report Kei te rapu te...

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    15 April 2026

  • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

    This article is the third in a series for The Circular by the members of the NCWNZ International Action Hub. The series highlights the many different international treaties to which New Zealand is a signatory and how this impacts women and girls. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is one of the core international human rights treaties adopted by the United Nations in 1966. It sets out fundamental civil and political rights that all people are entitled...

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    15 April 2026

  • Update on NCWNZ Health Hub

    The Health Action Hub held its bimonthly meeting on 22 April, focusing on housing and homelessness. Jenny Ombler, Research Fellow at the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities and He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, presented her research on ending homelessness in Aotearoa. Her presentation was followed by a discussion with members on the gendered dimensions of homelessness, the factors contributing to women’s housing insecurity, and the challenges of finding effective solutions. The Hub recently made a submission, led...

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    15 April 2026

  • Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill

    The Health Select Committee has now reported back on the Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill. Overall, the Bill represents a significant improvement, and many of NCWNZ’s concerns, outlined in our submission on 16 September 2024 (.pdf file, S24.15, on the NCWNZ website), have been addressed in some form. In particular, the strengthening of the rights and interests of children born through surrogacy is welcome. However, protections for surrogate mothers have been addressed less comprehensively. Below is a series of topics...

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    15 April 2026

  • Milestones: The UN World Conferences on Women

    In the midst of the Cold War and the horrific conflicts occurring throughout Asia and Africa coping with the decolonisation efforts of the 1960s and 1970s, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women succeeded in crafting the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 1967. In 1972 the United Nations proclaimed 1975 as the International Women's Year - and the CSW began working on the organisational structures to assure the creation of CEDAW, a legally binding...

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    14 April 2026