77117 HRC inside.ps, page 1-56 @ Normalize - Human Rights ...

Overview of the Processwith cultural diversity themes, andSen Thong, the founding editor forthe hip-hop magazine Back2Basics.Further information about them isfound on page 49.Sen and Mario provided a context forcultural diversity issues that had beendiscussed through the day. They talkedabout how cultural diversity issueswere manifested in their lives andthrough their work. They were verygenerous with their personal storiesand it was a joy to see the youthresponding and questioning.National Youth Forum and NewZealand Diversity ForumThe next stage of the project involvedplanning for the National YouthForum that was held on 22 August atTe Papa Tongerewa, the Museum ofNew Zealand, who generously provideda venue.Two participants from each regionalforum were selected and funded bythe organisers to attend the nationalforum. They also attended the NewZealand Diversity Forum the next day.The group from the regional forumswere joined by youth from Invercargill,Palmerston North, and from theChildren’s Commissioner’s referencegroup.A presentation by the Race RelationsCommissioner opened the NationalYouth Forum. With the environmentset, the themes from the regionalforums started the discussions and theinteractive workshops. In the regionalforums the whole spectrum of humanrights’ issues was explored, whereaswith the National Youth Forum theyouth looked only at issues relatedto cultural diversity. These themeswere further explored, prioritisedand developed into statements forthe Declaration. They experimentedwith creative ways to present theDeclaration the following day tothose gathered at the New ZealandDiversity Forum.At the New Zealand Diversity Forumthe youth were able to listen toexperts in their fields talk aboutcultural diversity and to engage inthe workshop discussions with them.The areas covered were nationallanguage policy, diversity approachesto policy, settlement for refugeesand migrants, school curricula, publicdialogue and education, diversity andthe mainstream media, diversity in thecultural sector and religious diversity.Feedback and ObservationsParticipants responded well to theprocesses developed to engage theirviews. These also allowed them tohear others’ views in a non-threateningenvironment.They embraced the spirit of thedialogical approach by respectingothers’ human rights but were alsoopen about their views. Peopleactively listened, there were no signsof intolerance or frustration with eachother’s ideas and there was a lot of25