Professor to advise on welcoming migrants

Thursday 20 July 2017

Professor Rawiri Taonui, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto, has been appointed to the national Welcoming Communities Advisory Board.

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Professor Rawiri Taonui.

Last updated: Tuesday 7 June 2022

Professor Rawiri Taonui, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto, has been appointed to the national Welcoming Communities Advisory Board. The Welcoming Communities initiative was established this month as part of implementing the New Zealand Migrant Settlement and Integration Strategy and the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy.

It is being established by Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the Office of Ethnic Communities, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Human Rights Commission and is part of an international ‘welcoming’ movement informed by similar initiatives in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States of America.

The programme aims to encourage and support local councils and their communities to take a greater leadership role in welcoming newcomers. It actively seeks to mobilise and involve members of the receiving communities in welcoming activities. This is a change in emphasis from earlier settlement initiatives that have focused on supporting newcomers, rather than equipping communities to be welcoming. Objectives include improving migrant settlement outcomes and strengthening social engagement, connections and cohesion between newcomers and existing community members. 

Dr Taonui, who is a Professor of Māori and Indigenous Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, says he’s pleased to have been invited onto the board.

“The world is undergoing much change with unprecedented migration between countries. More new migrants also come from backgrounds with significant difficulty than ever before. There are challenges integrating them into their new countries and many encounter discrimination,” he says.

“ I look forward to making a constructive contribution to the initiative. New migrants add to our cultural capital and have much to offer.”

Dr Taonui has been writing for the migrant community publication Linkz for 18 years.

The programme is being rolled out as a pilot in five regions: Tauranga/Western Bay of Plenty, Southland, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Canterbury.