Nau mai, haere mai

Welcome to Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono's newsletter! We hope this pānui finds you well. March was a busy month for us. We've been working hard on our projects - finding new leads, making new connections, tying things up and unravelling new pieces of mahi.

We are feeling in stride with 2023 and we are glad to bring you our latest batch of updates! Enjoy, and as always, thank you for your support 💚

Noho ora mai from the IACT whānau

Projects & Constellations

Unveiling the Coalition for Better Digital Policy

This week we announced the Coalition for Better Digital Policy, which is a project that we have formed alongside Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand and Tohatoha

The initiative behind this project is to improve the Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms. This Code was developed by several transnational digital platforms, as well as NZ’s non-profit online safety organisation, NetSafe, and is now hosted by NZTech.

Our main concerns with the code are:
● The Code’s self-regulation is not credible.
● The Code isn’t focused on Aotearoa.
● The Signatories’ community engagement has not been effective nor credible.

Our Coalition aims to enable robust, inclusive, and effective regulation of technology, with a focus on upholding human rights and preserving the benefits technology can provide. There is a discussion about this initiative becoming a model for the world, so we must get this right! #FixTheCode.

Announcing Bridging Cultures

After much planning, last month we announced our latest project: Bridging Cultures.

Since 2020 we have been talking to communities across the motu to better understand what belonging means for different people in Aotearoa, and what needs to change.

Bridging cultures aims to connect ethnic and Pasifika communities with tangata whenua, to build relationships and encourage communities to work together. We initiated this project after feedback from these communities about their lack of connection, and we believe that connecting communities is a critical part of anti-racism work, through building solidarity and sharing knowledge and experiences.

Not only will these hui enhance social cohesion between communities, but also be a means of strengthening the application of Te Tiriti by building support for tino rangatiratanga, as well as developing a shared understanding of how Te Tiriti includes ethnic and Pasifika communities.

Bridging Cultures is well underway with our first hui happening very soon, and we are so excited to share the journey with you.

Ethnic Youth Voices

We are on the lookout for new members to join our Ethnic Youth Voices group! If you know of any motivated ethnic and pacific youth between the ages of 15-24 that could be keen on putting together a project to create social alongside some of the IACT team, then reach out to [email protected]. Kia ora!

National Strategy Plan

On the 30th of March, we sent out a form inviting recipients to place feedback on our latest national strategy plan: A Community-Based National Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Our strategy outlines what we want to achieve, with eight elements that we think are essential in fulfilling our goal to establish inclusive communities. This document is a piece of our kaupapa we have been working on to strengthen our methods and processes, as well as better understand what work is being done by ally organisations in our sector.

Firstly, we want to give a big mihi to everyone that filled out the form and shared their knowledge and perspectives with us. We are very grateful for your insights!

If you feel like your community group/organisation shares our kaupapa of making Aotearoa an inclusive place of belonging, then we would love for you to read over our strategy and add your 2 cents. We are currently updating the resources section of our website and this offers a good opportunity to get your cause listed in our kete of organisations through sharing with us your mahi ❤

News, Events and Resources

Last year we were involved in an anti-racism hui hosted by the lovely Suki Xiao of As You. The purpose of the hui was to share stories and discover ways to counter everyday racism. From the workshopping that took place, we have developed these flashcards that you can print out, cut, and keep as shorthand anti-racism cues!

Feel free to share the resource with anyone you feel could benefit from them, and we also welcome you to stock them at any shared spaces that you are a part of - workplace, community group, or the local bowls tearoom!

Pay transparency open letter

A recent report found that in 2021 for every dollar earned by a Pākehā man, Pākehā women were paid just 89 cents. For Māori men that drops to 86 cents and Māori women 81 cents. For our Pacific whānau, men were paid just 81 cents and Pacific women only 75 cents.

Supporting employers to do the right thing and to be transparent about their pay gap is a good first step to help close this gap.

The Government can accelerate progress by passing a law requiring all employers to be transparent and take action on their gender, Māori, Pacific, and other ethnic pay gaps.

Not only is this the right thing to do, but it will ensure Aotearoa New Zealand is honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi, meeting its human rights obligations, bringing us in line with other progressive countries already moving towards closing their pay gaps and bringing greater prosperity for everyone.

You can send a message to Government to let them know how important this kaupapa is by signing the Open Letter…

And that’s it for now. Thank you for reading, being a part of our cause, and being an awesome person! You can find us on our socials below: