MELAA ADVISORY GROUP (MAG)

We advocate for Inclusive Engagement, Participation and Representation.

We are passionate about inclusion

MELAA (Middle Eastern, Latin American, African) Advisory group was formed to represent the people of Aotearoa New Zealand who fall under the MELAA classification. The group aims to highlight and address the issues with the New Zealand ethnicity classification and disproportionately low representation within the wider community. Our intent is to provide a governance group framework, supportive processes and leadership for the communities we represent. MAG provides a distinct compatibility and insight directly from MELAA’s networks.

We aim to reverse long-standing under-representation and thus draw our members from every MELAA ethnic sub-category. Our purpose is providing guidance and advising stakeholders in private or publicly funded organisations that seek to engage with our diverse community. It also allows for participating in, tailoring and helping to seamlessly deliver strategic projects; to increase advocacy and cross-cultural engagement and inform national policy to better meet the needs of our communities.

Values

We recognise our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through whanaungatanga shared experiences, together with the additional cultural growth in Aotearoa. We are founded on the principle that full and fair inclusion in society is a right of all. Without proportionate representation, full inclusion leading to actionable outcomes becomes ungovernable. Our vision is that with improved representation every person of MELAA heritage in Aotearoa NZ will have full access to all opportunities offered to contribute their full potential to society.

Representation

MAG will ensure that all of the voices of our communities are heard. Our community representatives are integrated and connected at all levels to directly relay feedback and information to the organisations which seek them, leading to high-value interventions in fundamental processes.

Policy Advice and Collaboration

We advise privately and publicly funded agencies on the needs of the MELAA communities. MAG seeks to ensure that despite the relative size of the community, its needs are not subsumed into larger ethnic groupings, and are held to internationally accepted standards. We aim to collaborate with interested parties to influence the outcome in the mutual interests of our communities and the stakeholders.

Advocacy

A primary role of the MAG is to bring the wider needs of our communities to the forefront of policy making. This would include central areas within Health and Education as well as an array of socio-cultural interests.