Tēnā tātou e hoa mā, ngā mihi ki a koutou.

It is Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week coming up on 11-17 September, and I would encourage you all to learn some new kupu (words) and put them into practice during the week and beyond. Check out our NCWNZ social media, we will be acknowledging this special week.

Tēnā koutou e hoa mā,

Aotearoa has just celebrated Volunteer Week, so it seems appropriate to give a “Big Shout Out” to all our fabulous volunteers. We rely on our operational volunteers to run our organisation – the Board, administrators, finance and communications teams; and on our volunteers in the Parliamentary Watch Committee, Action Hubs and the Branches to do the advocacy mahi.

It is important that we all invest in our volunteers and be considering how we as an organisation can reward them: is it by providing mentoring, training, or experience? Or is it by providing collegiality and friendship, and/or the satisfaction of having impact in the community through our advocacy?

We should all be making it our mission to ensure that every volunteer who spends time working with us gains something that makes their lives better.

Tēnā tātou katoa,

To state the obvious, this is election year in Aotearoa. As such, the Action Hubs are switching gears from focusing on upcoming policy – which tends to slow down in the few months prior to an election – to encouraging people to use their democratic right to vote. A reminder that our position at NCWNZ is that we are “a-political”, meaning that we:

• Do NOT support one party more than another
• Do NOT tell anyone who to vote for
• DO support women to run as political candidates
• DO promote women’s issues as topics for election debates
• DO support people to exercise their democratic right to vote.

This year starts with the promise of moving onwards. It may not be any easier than past years, but as a country we are moving to a post-COVID phase, and as an organisation we are moving to a phase of embedding the new constitution that we spent so much time thinking about in the last two years. We will continue to work both internally and externally, as we progress our vision of a gender equal Aotearoa New Zealand.

This year, our International Women’s Day (IWD) theme will be “Access Equality,” tying in with the general theme of #embraceequality – look out for social media from our Comms team. We are grateful for MSD Te Korowai Whetū Social Cohesion funding to help us amplify the impact of IWD events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and we know that other events are being planned around ngā motu/the island. The NCWNZ Communications team have compiled a list of IWD events on our website (https://www.ncwnz.org.nz/iwd2023) and you can email them at [email protected] if you would like to add your event. Remember to send your stories after the events to [email protected], with photos, so we can celebrate in the next edition of The Circular.

The month of September was celebration month! Suffrage Day was celebrated around the two motu with many events. I myself was thrilled to be invited to the unveiling of the suffrage stained-glass window at the Whanganui District Council Chambers, commissioned by the Whanganui branch – kei te pai ō mahi. (See article on this commemorative window here.) It was a time when NCWNZ was out and about, visible and proud. Especially so at Parliament, when we were able to hold the postponed celebration for the 125th anniversary of NCWNZ’s founding. It was great to see so many members and guests there, with so many of those who have contributed over many years. Thank you to all who were involved in the organisation of the event, it was very special because of your efforts.

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!

This well-known whakatauki (proverb) asks the question “what is the most important thing in the world?” and answers, “it is people.” This wisdom deserves to be front-and-centre in all that we do.

We advocate for human rights to be applied to all people, not just a select few. We comment on the impact of policy decisions on people, reminding our MPs that they are the peoples’ representatives. The Board is also focusing on its people, by building a supportive team culture through training with LEAD, funded by the Lotteries Commission. We will be focusing on team building, and the roles and responsibilities of governance and leadership. We will then extend the training to other leaders in our organisation, with training in group dynamics, financial management and practical IT for branch presidents and Action Hub coordinating committees. We will provide more details are they are firmed up.

Ngā mihi nui e te whānau o Te Kaunihera Wāhine o Aotearoa.

I hope you all enjoyed Aotearoa’s first Matariki holiday, and managed to keep warm in the midwinter weather. Matariki is a time for reflection, gratitude, remembering those who have passed on, and resetting ourselves. Let’s hope that these values remain central to the holiday and that Matariki does not become over-commercialised.

Suzanne Manning, President, National Council of Women of New Zealand

Ngā mihi nui e te whānau o Te Kaunihera Wāhine o Aotearoa.

It feels great to be writing to all you NCWNZ members – and potential members – via the refreshed Circular.

Thanks to Randolph Hollingsworth who has volunteered to take on the role of Circular editor. Randolph is a historian and academic administrator who worked in the United Stakes for many years. Being a staunch feminist, she was also involved in a variety of US feminist groups, and has a keen interest in suffrage histories. Now living in Auckland and enjoying spending time with her daughter and their family, Randolph is putting her considerable talents into historical and feminist projects. We are lucky that she is an NCWNZ member and that the Circular is one of her projects.