Abstract

In her debut address to the United Nations General Assembly on 28 September 2018, then newly-elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern renewed Aotearoa New Zealand’s commitment to the United Nation’s call for sustainable development through gender equality. The right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination was first enshrined in the principles of the Charter of the United Nations in 1945, legally affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and extended by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979. Since the formation of the UN, New Zealand has had a long history of advocating for the rights of women, children and the elimination of discrimination and abuse. As one of the first countries to sign the UN Charter in 1945 and to uphold the UNDHR in 1948, it established its international position for advancing gender equality, signalling a shift away from ‘looking to Britain’ for direction with foreign policy. While it was quick to sign the International Bill of Rights on 17 July 1980, the government took until 20 December 1984 to ratify the CEDAW, 1986).