13 November 2020

Kia ora koutou,

I hope you, your families, loved ones, and wider communities are well.

With the US election dominating headlines and social media it’s easy to forget that Aotearoa New Zealand held a general election recently. There have been changes and one of them is the appointment of the Honourable Priyanca Radhakrishnan as Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities.

I met our new Minister on the day she was sworn in and again at a Diwali celebration. Although the Minister has just started, and is still working through her priorities her passion for the Ethnic Communities portfolio is clear. I’m looking forward to working with her and I’m sure she’ll be keen to meet with as many people as possible.

On the subject of Diwali I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to a lot of celebratory events. Diwali is an event that has special meaning for me. The lighting of diya (lamp) is a traditional part of Diwali and we named our daughter Diya as she is the light in our lives.

Diwali is a time of joy and celebration. It represents the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Thinking of the year we’ve experienced these themes feel particularly significant. We’ve been through the darkness of COVID-19 and felt the pain of being separated from loved ones. I’ve also seen the light reflected in the many acts of kindness as people came together to support one another. For me, this togetherness was the triumph of light, good and the knowledge of what unifies us as people.

We’re holding Diwali celebrations at our different offices and this picture was taken at our head office in Wellington.

It’s been great to see so many people, from every community joining in with Diwali celebrations. I’d like to thank all those who have invited me and my colleagues to their events – and especially for the wonderful food.

Last month I talked about some new members of the Office and putting a strong leadership team in place. That team is now complete and I am excited to announce the appointment of Mr. Kudakwashe Tuwe, “Kuda”, to the position of Regional Manager Community Engagement – Central. He will start in his role on 1 December 2020.

Kuda has a longstanding involvement and extensive experience working with ethnic communities both at government and non-governmental level. He’s currently employed with the Tuhoe Trust in Whakatane where he is a member of the leadership team. Previously he worked in senior strategic roles with the NZ Aids Foundation in the capacity of National Program Manager – African Communities for over a decade, and more recently as the 2018 Census Engagement Lead/Manager for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities (CALD) at Statistics New Zealand.  Kuda also has a PhD on “Employment Challenges Faced by Ethnic Communities” and his M.A. thesis looked at “Health Promotion Challenges Faced by Ethnic Communities”.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Natasha Narayan who has been covering the Community Engagement Manager – Central role at a crucial time. She has held the fort, in addition to other tasks thrown at her.  Natasha will return to her substantive position, Manager Planning Systems and Services, in the new year.

Take care of yourselves.

Ngā mihi nui
Anusha Guler
Executive Director, Office of Ethnic Communities

Our recent work

Immigration Matters

On 27 October we teamed up with MBIE (Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment) and the New Zealand Supreme Sikh Society (NZSSS) to run a session on immigration for Indian communities.

The session, called Immigration Matters was hosted at the Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib Sikh Temple Library Hall in South Auckland. It was organised following a request from the NZSSS Secretary General for more information for local communities.

Over 30 Indian organisation representatives attended this session ranging from immigration advisors, Indian business association members, NGO’s like the New Zealand Sikh Women’s Association, and the Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust. They were joined by Jason Chand and Astrid Van Holten from MBIE and Amrit Melant, Senior Advisor from the Office.

The topics covered included Partnership Visas, Temporary Visas, migrants offshore and overstayers and was followed with a Q and A session where community members got to ask specific questions and raise issues.

Sessions where we can bring ethnic community members and Government agencies together are proving successful and it’s something we’re seeking to do more of.

Sharing lessons from COVID-19

On 20 October we presented to Civil Defence Emergency Managers from across the country. They had approached us to share our experiences of communicating with ethnic communities during COVID-19. Shane Whitfield, Regional Manager Community Engagement for the Southern Region and Sean O’Neill from our communications team talked about what we’d learned as an organisation.

We provided demographic information showing the size and diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand’s ethnic communities. We’ve found people are often surprised by the fact that ethnic communities make up almost 20 per cent of our population. They also covered the importance of community leaders and networks, translation, the Multilingual Information Network, ethnic media and the fact that not everyone has internet access.

Following the session we were approached by a number of people wanting to talk further. The Office already works with Civil Defence teams on a regional basis and our aim is to keep providing advice so that the needs of ethnic communities are factored into planning.

Helping Napier in need

You’ll no doubt have heard of the flooding that hit Napier earlier this week. Our own Rizwaana Latiff, Diversity and Engagement Advisor in the Central Region joined in the rescue effort, evacuating people, helping connect communities with support and getting key public information quickly translated.

Rizwaana is also organising a team of international students to help with the clean-up. One thing she learned from this experience is that gumboots are not much use when water gets this high!

Supporting Africa Day 2020

We were delighted to help fund the African Communities Council Wellington's Africa Day 2020. Funding was provided through the Ethnic Communities Development Fund and the event was held at Shed 6 in Wellington. Pictured below are Anusha Guler, who represented the Office and the wonderful Sam Manzanza who performed for the crowd and kept the party in full swing.

COVID-19 information updates

Keep using the NZ COVID Tracer app

In recent weeks we’ve seen some community cases of COVID-19 and increasing numbers of Kiwis returning home. With the possibility of community outbreaks it’s still vital for everyone to keep track of their movements. Being able to trace contacts quickly could make the difference between having to increase Alert Levels or not. Keep using the NZ COVID Tracer app to record where you’ve been.

Keep on keeping safe

Please keep reminding the communities you represent and work with to help keep everyone safe by:

• Staying home if you’re sick
• Getting tested if you have COVID-19 type symptoms
• Keeping track of where you’ve been
• Washing your hands.

Foreign Nationals Support Programme - Deadline for applications

The deadline for applying for support from The Foreign Nationals Support Programme Visitor Care Manaaki Manuhiri is 30 November.

The programme provides assistance to people in New Zealand on temporary visas who cannot easily get home and are experiencing serious financial hardship. This includes help with meeting basic needs such as food, accommodation and medical care.

More information, including translated materials, is available on the New Zealand Red Cross website.

Upcoming events and key dates

November

• 14 November – Diwali
• 15 November - Jain
• 18 November – Latvia Proclamation of Independence
• 18 November – Oman National Day
• 19 November – Monaco National Day
• 22 November – Lebanon Independence Day
• 28 November – Albania Independence Day
• 28 November – Timor Leste Independence Day
• 29 November – Start of Advent
• 30 November – St Andrews Day
• 30 November - Guru Nanak Ji’s Birthday
• 30 November – Barbados Independence Day.

December

• 1 December – Romania National Day
• 2 December – Laos National Day
• 2 December – United Arab Emirates National Day
• 5 December – Thailand National Day
• 6 December – Finland Independence Day
• 8 December – Bodhi Day
• 8 December – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• 11 December – Start of Hanukkah
• 12 December – Kenya Independence Day.