Newsletter

Amazon fires, Measles outbreak threatens the Pacific, CID updates and more

Posted on 03 September 2019

+ #NZiswatching Petition Still Collecting Signatures

Update on the campaign this week:
  • Chair of CID's Humanitarian Network, World Vision's Mark Mitchell had a great article in Stuff on the campaign.
  • Tearfund's Andrew Robinson has been generating support from mayors across the country.
  • Other members are targeting their networks to get as many signatures on the petition as possible. 
Please keep circulating the petition. We need as many signatures as possible. 

You can get people to sign the petition and read the latest on the campaign here.
 

+ NZ Measles Outbreak Threatening Pacific

The recent outbreak of measles concentrated in Auckland has sparked concerns that there will be an inevitable spread of measles to at-risk Pacific Islands. Dr Teuila Percival, an expert in Pacific Health working in Auckland, warned that “It’s a considerable risk that it spreads to the Pacific Islands now, there is particular concern for countries such as Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands which have lower vaccination rates.”

The National Verification Committee for Measles and Rubella Elimination (NVC) also identified the threat to other countries in the Pacific region, recommending that steps should be taken to prevent the spread of measles to the Pacific Island nations, namely through encouraging their governments to prioritize vaccinations, amongst other recommendations to suppress the outbreak in Auckland.

Pacific travellers to and from Auckland are also being warned to vaccinate against measles at least two weeks ahead of travelling as further measures to prevent the spread to the region, however, despite these precautionary measures Pacific Islands governments are bracing for the spread to their nations.
 

+ Elise James - New Member Representative on Code Committee

We would like to announce that Elise James has been elected as a new Member Representative on the CID Code of Conduct Committee. Her tenure will run from September 2019 until August 2021.

Elise will be known to a number of you, as she has worked for Save the Children, World Vision, Child Fund, and Engineers without Borders.

Elise has worked overseas in a number of locations including Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Myanmar, as well as volunteering in Indonesia, Cambodia and Guyana. Elise has also volunteered for a number of local Boards, including The Clothing Project, a children’s charity in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, (as a Board Member and Treasurer), and the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Humanitarian Engineering.

We would like to congratulate Elise on becoming part of the Code Committee team, and we are excited to work with her and benefit from her knowledge and wise council.

+ Submissions for Select Committee Pacific ODA Inquiry

The closing date for submissions for the Select Committee inquiry into New Zealand's aid in the Pacific was Friday, 30th August. Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Trade Committee have opened the inquiry with a focus on different aid models used in the Pacific, and the effectiveness of New Zealand's past and present aid models. 

A number of CID members have sent in submissions, including; Christian World Service, VSA, Save the Children, Child Fund, Family Planning, and Oxfam. CID has also provided a submission, and a copy of this is here. 

+ CID Photo Competition 2019 

A reminder that you can enter the CID Photo Competition 2019. The three categories for the competition are:
  • Development (amateur photographers)
  • Humanitarian Aid | Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) (amateur photographers)
  • Professional photographers | Humanitarian & Development – for photographers based in NZ (non-prize category)

Please send in your photos, showcasing partnership, collaboration and good development outcomes.

Deadline for entries: September 30, 2019
For more information, visit our website.

Winners will be announced at the CID Conference 2019 on October 21st. 
+ CIDX Talk with Bill English

On Thursday 29 August Sir Bill English, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, addressed a key question; “How do you know you’re doing good?” In this CIDX talk, hosted at Russell McVeagh and live-streamed on the CID Facebook page, Bill and the team at ImpactLab discussed the importance of measuring social impact, and the challenges of measuring it in aid and development. The team have developed 'GoodMeasure', a data-driven tool measuring the impact of social spending and indicating to government and organisations return on investment for social spend. CID extends their gratitude to Bill, Emily and Kylie for a fascinating talk which offered aid and development organisations plenty of food for thought.

If you missed it, the live stream can be found on the CID Facebook page. For more information on the fantastic work ImpactLab are doing, a link to their website can be found here.
 
+ Where the Arts Meet the Humanitarian Sector...
Live Aid was a revolutionary concert event in 1985, which was held in two countries and spanned the world via satellite. It was the brainchild of musician Bob Geldof and while it helped change the world in many ways, the direct impact it had on Ethiopian famine relief remains in question. The podcast Remembering Live Aid explores the concerns of what happened to the funds generated by so many memorable bands on that day nearly 35 years ago.

The mid-1980s featured events such as Live Aid and Band Aid where dozens of the biggest stars in music gathered together to record such hits as "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World", all for a good cause. Today the charity mega-singles remain relics of pop music’s past, which resurface around the holidays. The podcast The Charity Mega-single examines how good intentions, pique, excess, and vanity led to the rise and fall of the ‘do-gooder celebrity pop song’.
 
+ Amazon Fires - Call to Action
Thousands of fires burning in Brazil, many in the world’s biggest rainforest, are sending clouds of smoke across the region and pumping alarming quantities of carbon into the world’s atmosphere. More than 1,300 new fires were added over the course of just two days this week. Satellites have captured images of the smoke from the flames sweeping across several Brazilian states. In São Paulo, although thousands of miles from the Amazon, dark clouds blackened the sun last week, turning day into night. The number of fires in Brazil so far this year is 84 per cent higher than in the comparable period last year; more than half of those are in the Amazon region. What's happening?

Do the prerogatives of sovereignty entitle a nation to destroy resources within its territorial control, when this destruction has global environmental consequences? The answer delivered by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, at the G7 summit in Biarritz is an emphatic no. However, while Macron’s gesture of support was well-intentioned, it was also clumsy, writes Anthony Pereira on The Conversation. By suggesting that the fate of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest should be decided by the G7 the French president left himself open to criticism that he had a colonialist mentality by his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.

Here in New Zealand, some members of the Brazilian community have organised a peaceful protest in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Wellington on 6th September at 12.30pm.
 

+ 'UNprofessionals' Announced

CBS is developing a new comedy series called UNprofessionals (...). No, that capitalized UN isn’t a typo, because the series will focus on a group of low-level U.N. workers.

The network has put into development UNprofessionals, a single-camera effort that counts Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg among its executive producers. The comedy will take a behind-the-scenes look at a group of the least important people working at one of the world’s most important places: the United Nations.

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg Developing United Nations Comedy at CBS

 
+ Darren's Interview at Seeds Podcast

Darren Ward, Managing Partner of Direct Impact Group, our newsletter sponsor, was interviewed for the Seeds Podcast recently and talked about NGO governance and catalysing impact. The podcast interview can be found here. 

Darren has worked for many years in the NGO sector and now assists organisations to maximize social impact through Direct Impact Group.  In this interview, he talks about his childhood and early years and career before he joined an NGO.  He focuses in particular on governance and impact and how you go about maximising social impact.  He also discusses what he has observed over the years of working as the head of an NGO and now consulting to assist them. 

+ CID Reps on DevNet Committees - TOR 

CID is happy to announce that CID representatives on DevNet have been confirmed, and the Terms of Reference is finalised and available on the CID website, here:

Feel free to send them any feedback, ideas, thoughts, and suggestions relating to this work. 

Outside of the DevNet Conference (2-4 Dec 2020, Palmerston North), the DevNet Steering Committee is also keen to ensure greater collaboration across the international development sector throughout the year and would like to organise some shared seminars at which having both academics/practitioners/policymakers as presenters or panellists.

Therefore the Committee would love to hear from our members on:
1) any topics of interest for these seminars (including any presenters from NGOs), and
2) if any of you are hosting visitors/guest speakers at any stage who would also like to lead/participate in one of these seminar sessions. 

This information can be sent to Angela Wilton (angela.wilton@oxfam.org.nz)  

Also, Gaia Maridati from the CID Team (office@cid.org.nz), will be involved in the process when possible, so, please feel free to contact her too.
 
+ The CID Weekly is proudly sponsored by

Direct Impact Group supports organisations to maximise their social impact, because changing the world isn't easy, and in dynamic times this work is more important than ever.
 

+ What our members are up to

Save the Children NZ
From Beirut to BATS - Eglantyne play comes to Wellington 
 
As part of their centenary Save the Children NZ is delighted to host EGLANTYNE, a vibrant and inspiring solo play that tells the little-known story of Eglantyne Jebb who, with her sister Dorothy, founded Save the Children 100 years ago.
 
Eglantyne was a courageous and compassionate human rights pioneer, whose fearless spirit and bold vision continues to impact children around the world today.  Eglantyne drafted the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child which evolved into the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (which marks its 30th anniversary in November this year).  
 
The play will run from 22 to 26 October at BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Wellington. To book please go to www.bats.co.nz or call (04) 802 4175.


World Vision NZ
World Vision & Guled Mire (a former refugee) presented a petition at Parliament on 21/08/2019

The petition called for the removal of policy restrictions against African and Middle Eastern refugees.
Below is some media coverage:
+ Vanuatu Mapping Pilot - Who does work in Vanuatu?

This week CID and the High Commission of Vanuatu are commencing an exciting piece of research about New Zealand’s work in Vanuatu. The purpose of the study is to develop an understanding of:
  1. All NZ entities (NGO, private sector, public sector, academia etc) working in Vanuatu, and their work
  2. The development or social impact the entities may be contributing to, in Vanuatu
  3. The opportunities for collaboration and synergies between entities.
A first step in this research is to identify all the New Zealand organisations working in Vanuatu.
 
If your organisation is working in Vanuatu, please send a quick email this week to Campbell Garrett on campbell@cid.org.nz so we can include your organisation in the study.
 
Also, if you know of any New Zealand organisations (either NGOs, businesses, public sector, or from academia) who are currently working in Vanuatu, please send the names to Campbell Garrett (again this week on campbell@cid.org.nz) so we can include them in the study. Thank you!
 
 

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