Noswaith Dda/Good Evening
AND thank you to NWAMI –“Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration” - for inviting me to sponsor and speak at today’s second Annual Celebration of International Integration Day as their Honorary President.
A year ago today, on the 9th of October 2018, NWAMI launched the Annual Celebration of International Integration Day through their event 'Integration through Learning and Cultural Exchange' at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff.
This event was well attended and highly appreciated by the audience.
As NWAMI President, I closed the event, thanking performers and speakers, and emphasising the importance of integration by celebrating our glorious diversity together, building community cohesion and a tolerant society through cultural engagement.
Last November I attended and spoke at NWAMI’s Diwali celebration in Colwyn Bay. Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights, with its main theme being the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. As I stated, we must cultivate harmony among the world’s religions and build bridges between diverse cultures.
In June, I attended and spoke at both NWAMI’s 2nd International Panel meeting at the Cardiff University Student Union Building, and their Windrush Day event in Colwyn Bay, 71 years after the MV Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks carrying 492 Caribbean migrants, many of them veterans of the Second World War.
And last month, I had the pleasure of attending and giving the vote of thanks at NWAMI’s “Inter-Culture Festival 2019" in Colwyn Bay, which combined Western Classical Guitar with Classical Indian Dance.
Tonight there will be some short speeches and integrated performances of music from Welsh and other cultures.
NWAMI is a non-profit community interest group.
They have no paid staff and are run by board members and volunteers from diverse backgrounds.
They rely on their own fundraising so that members can work with board members to plan and implement their own learning and engagement projects.
Whilst NWAMI is the group’s registered name, its operational name is the Centre for Cultural Engagement.
On 16th June 2015, the Centre for Cultural Engagement was formally launched in the Senedd at an event which was well attended by AMs and a wide range of organisations, focused on building community cohesion and a tolerant society through cultural engagement.
On 3rd June 2016, I was then honoured to speak at the official opening of NWAMI/Centre for Cultural Engagement’s Multicultural Community Partnership Premises in Colwyn Bay, providing space for people and organisations to engage in a wide range of Multicultural activities.
The 2007 Commission on Integration and Cohesion report “Our Shared Future” outlined practical proposals for building integration and cohesion at a local level. It stated that we should adopt a new definition of an integrated and cohesive community.
It also proposed four key principles to underpin a new understanding of integration and cohesion:
Firstly, the sense of shared futures which we believe is at the heart of our model and our recommendations – an emphasis on articulating what binds communities together rather than what differences divide them, and prioritising a shared future over divided legacies
Secondly, an emphasis on a new model of rights and responsibilities that we believe will be fit for purpose in the 21st century – one that makes clear both a sense of citizenship at national and local level, and the obligations that go along with membership of a community, both for individuals or groups
Thirdly, an ethics of hospitality – a new emphasis on mutual respect and civility that recognises that alongside the need to strengthen the social bonds within groups, the pace of change across the country reconfigures local communities rapidly, meaning that mutual respect is fundamental to issues of integration and cohesion
AND, fourthly, a commitment to equality that sits alongside the need to deliver visible social justice, to prioritise transparency and fairness, and build trust in the institutions that arbitrate between groups.
The 2007 ‘What Works’ in Community Cohesion Research Study conducted for the UK Department for Communities and Local Government and the Commission on Integration and Cohesion stated that “community cohesion is a multi-faceted concept, requiring cross-cutting, multi-pronged approaches. There is consensus that cohesion relates to encouraging positive relationships between different groups (all groups – not just on ethnic lines, for example). This is usually regarded as more positive than simply avoiding problems and tensions, and respect for diversity and meaningful interaction (rather than mixing per se) is seen as key within this. This finding supports the increased recognition of the importance of the quality of interaction in the recent literature, such as by the Commission for Racial Equality”.
In May, I spoke in an Assembly Debate on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The Convention covers the rights of all people to enjoy civil, political, economic and social rights, without discrimination on grounds of race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which the UK ratified in 1969.
I extensively quoted the Chair and Founder of NWAMI, Dr Sibani Roy, and stated:
"Some of the people think that when you talk about integration, you mean assimilation. We have to explain to people that integration is not assimilation”.
“We have to respect the law and culture of the land.
She added "What we need to do is educate people and say we are all human beings, we're friendly and we should try to understand each other's culture.
"When they learn about other cultures, then they will possibly become friendly."
“Change will happen very slowly, Tit for tat is not the way to change people.
"By talking to people and educating people - eventually by convincing them that human beings are not all bad.
"It doesn't matter - it's individuals.
"And that is what I've always believed myself: that we treat them as individuals - it doesn't matter what the background is, their faith or colour”.
We must recognise the vital work been carried out by frontline community and third sector organisations to promote multicultural integration in Wales.
We need to build a cohesive community and integrated society in Wales in the 21st century.
To achieve this we need to promote an understanding and respect of this country’s diverse cultures through cultural engagement and interaction, education and training.
As I have said many times, this is about celebrating our glorious diversity together.