28 February Newsletter
STUFF HAPPENING AT JUST FOCUS
Applications for the Just Write team closed on Monday. A lot of talented and passionate writers applied from all over the country and we will be announcing the team next week!
We have also had lots of interest (from those of you in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) about joining the Media that Matters steering groups. Yay all you people getting out there and getting involved! We look forward to working with you this year.
RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
Last week the international disarmament conference in our fair capital ended positively. The “Wellington Declaration” includes a draft treaty to ban the munitions, which should become international law later this year. For more on this, check out Stuff.
It’s been over a year since Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power in a bloodless coup in Fiji. The New Zealand government has strongly condemned the coup and urged the interim government to restore democracy. Recently Prime Minister Helen Clark described the deportation of a Fiji newspaper editor as “disturbing”. Freedom of the media is an important part of a democracy. Read more about this story on the New Zealand Herald site
A new Global Seed Vault in the Arctic may sound like a strange idea, but its aim is to safeguard the world’s crop seeds. Unique varieties of the most important crops will be frozen and kept safe from the threats of climate change disease and disasters. Read more on Scoop.
UPCOMING EVENTS/ACTIONS FOR YOU TO BE PART OF
PASIFIKA FESTIVAL
Friday 7 - Saturday 8 March
This Pasifika festival takes place in Auckland every year and is one of the largest community events in the South Pacific. Join the Pacific Island communities of Auckland to celebrate the cultures of their island nations and explore their connections to each other and to New Zealand. More info available on the Auckland City Council website.
INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY
Saturday 8 March
While there has been significant change and shift in attitude towards women and their right to equality, the unfortunate fact remains that women are still not present in equal numbers in politics or business, they don’t have pay equity and globally there are still major issues around violence against women, women’s education, health and participation. International Women’s Day (IWD) is connecting all women around the world and it reminds us of the continued need for action. Check out the IWD website for events in Aoteaora New Zealand and around the globe, or get your girls together and organise something yourselves.
LINKS TO OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
Top 10 Youth Activism Victories in the USA in 2007 – be inspired by young people who have made a difference.
“Redress Fashion” campaign – students in the UK take on the High Street clothes shops to challenge them on the ethics of clothes production.
NEW STUFF ON THE WEBSITE
Two Just Focus writers attended the Cluster Munitions Conference in Wellington last week and contributed to a daily briefing for the 500 delegates. Keep an eye on here for some of their work – including an interview with a young Afghani survivor.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT…?
Can you guess the connection between genocide in Darfur and the Chinese government? How does this effect the Beijing Olympics later this year? What has Steven Spielberg got to do with this? Read more and have you say in the forum.
WANNA GET MORE INVOLVED?
Want to add stuff to the next newsletter or the Events Page, or to write an article/review, or take a photo/create an image for the Just Focus website? Reply to us at info@justfocus.org.nz, it’s always great to hear from you.
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