Human Rights Day 2024

Join the United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNA NZ) at the Beehive Theatrette on Tuesday 3rd of December, at 5.30pm, to mark International Human Rights Day with an engaging seminar on "Disinformation: Safeguarding Human Rights in the Digital Sphere".

We are honoured to have MP Chlöe Swarbrick, the Green Party co-leader, as our host and keynote speaker. She will be joined by esteemed panelists including Nicole Skews-Poole, trainer and communicator on countering disinformation, Vicki Soanes, Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO, and Ana McAllister, Manager of Public Policy, Funding and Community Engagement at InternetNZ.

Karim Dickie, the President of UNA NZ, will chair the seminar, and Avery Smith, Project Manager at He Whenua Taurikura, will moderate the panel, which will address the following topics:

• In today’s digital age, the rapid spread of disinformation and misinformation threatens democracy and human rights with a profound impact on public trust, democratic processes, and fundamental freedoms.
• How can we ensure citizens access accurate and reliable information for informed decision-making and healthy democracies?
• How do we counter disinformation while preserving the right to free expression and other basic rights?

We look forward to welcoming you to this thought-provoking discussion.

Ticket prices include light refreshments, to be served following the event.

Speakers' bio:

Chlöe Swarbrick

Chlöe entered Parliament as a Green Party List MP in 2017, and has been the MP for Auckland Central since 2020. She works tirelessly for the wellbeing of people and the planet, with a focus on real system change. Her areas of interest include reducing climate change, tax justice, ending inequality in Aotearoa, improving conditions for those with mental health issues, reforming outdated drug laws, and empowering grassroots communities to engage in local decision-making and challenging the status quo.

Chlöe works to show all New Zealanders that our institutions are just made up of people making decisions, and that these decisions are often constrained by systems designed to give power and privilege to the few. She wants you to know everything can change if everyone realises their collective power to make it happen.

Nicole Skews-Poole

Nicole is a communicator specialising in understanding disinformation and building organisational resilience to online targeting.

She has a background in strategic communications, crisis response and social media. After leading some of the first government responses to COVID-19 disinformation and online harassment, she then worked as the Director of Communications for research group, The Disinformation Project.

Nicole now has her own small social enterprise Anchordown, where she consults across sectors and provides training to communications teams and senior leadership.

Ana McAllister

Ana McAllister (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) has a background in internet policy, specialising in culturally responsive, community-centred approaches to counter disinformation. With experience in providing technical, cultural, and policy guidance, she bridges the needs of government and grassroots communities to address the nuanced impacts of disinformation in Aotearoa. Having personally faced disinformation campaigns, Ana is acutely aware of the real-world consequences of online disinformation. Her expertise spans technical knowledge of internet infrastructure on a local and global scale, supporting her advocacy for an open, secure online landscape that honours human rights. 

Vicki Soanes

With nearly a decade of international experience in human rights and poverty-focused NGOs, including four years at the United Nations in New York with ATD Fourth World, Vicki Soanes brings a deep commitment to human rights and social justice. She holds a Master of International Relations, focusing on the representation of people in poverty at the UN. 

After a year with UNICEF NZ as Advocacy Manager – International, she joined the Secretariat of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO in 2010, as Education Programme Officer with additional responsibility for the youth programme.

Vicki was appointed Secretary General in 2016. As the Secretary General, Vicki leads a small Secretariat which undertakes a programme of activities to promote UNESCO’s mandate in New Zealand.

Avery Smith

Dr. Avery Smith is the Project Manager at He Whenua Taurikura: the National Centre of Research Excellence for Countering and Preventing Violent Extremism. Founded as part of the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch, the Centre's purpose is to contribute to an Aotearoa where everyone is safe in their diverse identities. Avery is committed to making research accessible to the public in order to inform evidenced-based and nuanced responses to disinformation, extremism, and social cohesion. On He Whenua Taurikura's podcast, Unsettling Extremism, Avery talks to experts to broaden our perspective of the complex challenges Aotearoa faces as part of an ever-changing and connected global community.