Last week the Ministry for Ethnic Communities organised two online hui for Ministers to meet with women and young people leaders from Aotearoa New Zealand’s Afghan communities respectively. The young people leaders hui was hosted by Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan in her role as Minister for Youth and Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, while an all-women hui with Afghan women leaders was co-hosted with the Minister for Women Hon Jan Tinetti. The Ministers were keen to hear the community's concerns and inquire after their wellbeing in the context of recent developments in Afghanistan.
The hui were also attended by representatives of several organisations providing counselling and other support services for Afghan communities in Aotearoa, and were an opportunity to exchange insights, listen to the concerns of the community and provide them with relevant updates.
The hui were an opportunity to exchange insights, listen to the concerns of the community and provide them with relevant updates.
Our Ministry has begun following up from these hui with regional community engagements over the weeks to keep our community informed and to ensure their concerns are relayed back to relevant government agencies. We want to thank the Afghan community leaders who joined us for the hui last week and encourage them to continue working together with us to provide relevant support and information to their communities.