Phil Twyford
Disarmament & Arms Control spokesperson
Associate Foreign Affairs spokesperson


Scandinavian style peace making role mooted for NZ

A conference at Parliament today will examine how New Zealand can carve out a role as an international peace maker, says Labour's disarmament & arms control spokesperson Phil Twyford.

Swedish politician Maj Britt Theorin, a former member of the European Parliament and Swedish ambassador for disarmament, is the key note speaker and will draw lessons from the Scandinavian experience in conflict resolution.

Also on the panel are New Zealand's international peace mediator Andrew Ladley, National MP John Hayes, who helped broker the Bougainville peace in the 1990s, Labour MP and former UN aid worker David Shearer, Dr Beth Greener from Massey University, who is an expert on New Zealand's international policing deployments, and Dr Isak Svennson, who specialises in the mediation of international and intra-national conflicts.

Labour MP Phil Twyford and National MP Nicky Wagner are co-hosting the event which is convened by Dr Kevin Clements, who heads up Otago University's National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Mr Twyford said the conference would discuss how New Zealand could boost its role in preventing and defusing conflict in the region.

"Helping build peace in places like East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan and Tonga is already an important part of what we do in the world. The question is, how can we build on that work and shape a special role for New Zealand in making the world a more peaceful place."

ends

© Scoop Media