This October, the team at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand will welcome our Secretary General, Dr Agnès Callamard, for two unforgettable public lectures in Auckland and Wellington. Recognised worldwide for her fearless advocacy and leadership, Dr Callamard will reflect on today’s challenges and opportunities, and inspire us to think about how collective action can drive change.
Since 2021, Dr Callamard has led Amnesty International’s global movement, steering campaigns for justice and accountability at a time when authoritarianism is on the rise and the rules-based order is under threat. Her career has spanned decades at the forefront of human rights — from serving as the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions to directing Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression project, to her current role as the movement’s most senior leader.
Globally we are witnessing a toxic combination: the breakdown of the rules-based order, coupled with rising authoritarian practices. While Aotearoa New Zealand can feel somewhat protected from these trends, now is not the time to be complacent. What’s happening overseas can happen here too. We have to keep engaging. We have to keep asking: Is it human? Is it right?
In Auckland, Dr Callamard will be joined by one of New Zealand’s most respected journalists, Samantha Hayes, co-anchor of Newshub Live at 6pm, who will bring a local lens to the conversation. This event is co-hosted by the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS) and the Global Studies Programme in the Faculty of Arts and Education at the University of Auckland.
In Wellington, Jonathon Boston ONZM, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the Wellington School of Business and Government, and Former Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and the Institute for Governance & Policy Studies, will host the session. This lecture is co-hosted by Victoria University of Wellington.
These evenings are not just lectures. They offer a unique chance to engage with the global human rights conversation in Aotearoa New Zealand at a time when representation, civic freedoms, and power dynamics are being widely debated.
We can’t wait to see you there.