Noswaith Dda/Good Evening AND thank you to NWAMI –“Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration” - for inviting me as NWAMI’s President to sponsor tonight’s event Multicultural Integration and the Role of Welsh Culture.
There will be two hours of cultural activities and presentations
including exhilarating music and dance performances.
Over the last eleven years, NWAMI has worked extremely hard to raise awareness of Diversity and Multiculturism.
NWAMI is a non-profit community interest group, with no paid staff, run by board members and volunteers from diverse backgrounds.
They rely on their own fundraising and on members working with board members to plan and implement their own learning and engagement projects.
NWAMI promotes Community Cohesion and Social Integration through education and cultural engagement globally and aims to reduce hate crime throughout society by building tolerance and understanding, along with a mutual respect for diverse culture for all.
Their members come from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds.
In 2013 NWAMI organised a Multicultural event at Bangor University, hosted by the University and funded by Bangor City Council, Gwynedd County Council, Arts Council Wales and Big Lottery, with invited speakers and performers around the UK and beyond, encouraging participants to introduce a similar multicultural ethos in their own organisations.
NWAMI has also held events in the Houses of Parliament, Temple of Peace in Cardiff and here in the Senedd for the same purpose.
Whilst NWAMI is their registered name, their 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, hosted by me, 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 the 3rd June 2016, I was then pleased to speak at the official opening of NWAMI/Centre for Cultural Engagement’s initial Multicultural Community Partnership Premises in Colwyn Bay, providing space for people and organisations to engage in a wide range of Multicultural activities.
On 9th October 2018, NWAMI launched the Annual ‘Celebration of International Integration Day’ through their event, 'Integration through Learning and Cultural Exchange', held at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff.
This event was well attended and highly appreciated by the audience.
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.
On 9th October 2019, I sponsored and spoke at NWAMI’s second Annual Celebration of International Integration Day, held in the Senedd’s Pierhead Building.
This again integrated short speeches with performances of music from Welsh and other cultures.
I referred to NWAMI events I had attended and spoken at during the previous year, including Diwali celebration and Windrush Day event.
On 9th October 2020, I spoke online at NWAMIs third Annual ‘Celebration of International Integration Day, when I formally launched NWAMI’s Booklet, NWAMI, Wales and our Story”, which refers to both NWAMI’s origins as the ‘North Wales Association for Multicultural Integration’, and to its rebranded name and role ‘Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration’.
Speaking at this event, Dr Sibani Roy said: "NWAMI's mission has been to integrate newcomers with local people through cultural exchange and education, to reduce hate crime, and has successfully staged numerous cultural events, interfaith seminars, debates, language classes, cookery demonstrations and so on”.
On 9th October 2021, I spoke at NWAMI’s International Integration Day Virtual Event, where I focussed on the situation in Afghanistan and the support we can and must provide for its victims, whilst also noting that National Hate Crime Awareness Week started on the same day.
And on 9th October 2022, I again spoke at NWAMI’s International Integration Day Virtual Event, where I referred to the video I had produced for NWAMI’s Celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and referring to Her Majesty’s death, I stated:
“We must unite in our grief and take strength that both our country and the Commonwealth are better places today for her long reign and life of public service. Eight countries came together in 1949 to form the modern Commonwealth.
“Her Majesty became head of the Commonwealth after being chosen for this role by Commonwealth member countries when she became Queen three years later.
“Since then, the Commonwealth has grown to become a free association not of eight countries, but of 56 independent and equal member countries. I thank Her Majesty for her service”.
I also highlighted National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022, a week of action that takes place in the UK to encourage local authorities and Police, key partners and communities affected by hate crime to work together to tackle local hate crime.
As Chair and Founder of NWAMI, Dr Sibani Roy has previously 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”.
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.
We need to build a cohesive community and integrated society in Wales in the 21st century.
As the Cambridge Dictionary states, Integration is “the action or process of successfully joining or mixing with a different group of people”.
Integration is also sometimes referred as a multicultural concept that denotes the removal of barriers that segregate human beings, where integration can only happen when tolerance in the form of mutual respect and acceptance occurs on the part of racially and ethnically different groups of human beings - accepting, recognizing, valuing and celebrating as well as giving equal rights for participation.
As I have said many times, this is about celebrating our glorious diversity together.