The Migrants Crisis: reviewing the numbers.

By Bérengère Greenland

Earlier this month, the University of Canterbury hosted, in association with UN Youth, the EUCN and the NCRE, a model European Parliament for high school students. The theme this year was the refugee crisis in Europe. For months we had been working on how to best explain the crisis to teenagers. How could we make them understand what was at stake for refugees, for host countries and for Europe but also how it mattered for New Zealand? Then, that morning, before the event started I checked the news on my computer and saw Aylan’s photograph. And I felt like no words or figures could possibly explain with the same emotion the crisis that led a young child to drown in the Mediterranean Sea and be found the next morning lying lifeless on a beach.

Work harder: the simple solution to eradicating poverty?

Is it possible that poverty could affect the brain of people living in it? Is it possible that those living in poverty will have children destined to live in poverty? If so, exactly what can we do about the rising numbers of New Zealanders stuck trapped in a poverty cycle? This article answers these questions, we hope to provide a springboard to a new way of discussing the implications of poverty in New Zealand.

It’s easy to bash the poor.

People just need to work harder.

Parents should feed their own children. Society should not be forced to pay for their lunches.

Why should I pay taxes, so someone else can stay home and do drugs?

The simplicity of these comments is comforting as it takes the responsibility away from ourselves and places it solely on others, especially other parents. It’s easy to say people should work harder.

It is hard to understand is that not everyone wins the birth lottery.

How Do Women Fit In With ISIS?

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is often depicted as a masculine, male-dominated force that has merely one place for women, the home. However this is not the case. The relationship ISIS has with women is far more complex and they continue to attract women to join their cause from around the world. So what exactly does ISIS offer Sunni Muslim women? What happens to women who don’t share their views? This article aims to provide an overview of the various roles ISIS offers women and how they’ve come to perpertrate horrific violence against a specific group of women.

Who is ISIS and what kind of enemy will they be?

The rebel group ISIS is becoming increasingly relevant as countries from around the world join the fight to dismantle them. From as far away as New Zealand, troops are being sent to manage the threat. But who are they and what kind of threat do they pose?

Charlie Hebdo Attacks: How did it happen and how does it highlight radicalisation in France?

By Bérengère Greenland and Hannah Ross-McAlpine

A little over a month ago, the head-quarters of a small newspaper in Paris was attacked by radicals. Armed with AKs, two brothers, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, killed 12 people including members of the redaction team, police officers and civilians. The next day, an accomplice killed a police women in the north of Paris and a day later took hostages in a kosher supermarket and killed four Jews. In total, 17 people were killed during three days of terror attacks. The Kouachi brothers claimed to be affiliated to Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Yemeni group later declared responsibility for the attacks.

The Kouachi brothers were both French nationals, born in Paris in the 1980s. While they had a difficult childhood, they were not very different from many youths in France. So how did they become radicalised? Hundreds of young men and women in Europe are leaving for Syria to fight with IS and other radical groups, this has become a pressing issue and one that desperately needs a solution.

Human Trafficking in New Zealand: Do You Know It’s Happening?

 Many kiwis would deny that human trafficking occurs in New Zealand.  Many of us have never been witness to, or been involved in the world we imagine to be associated with words like ‘slavery, sex-trafficking or human trafficking.’  Even though we don’t see it and would prefer not to talk about it, it is happening.  

What is Boko Haram? #bringbackourgirls

What is the image that comes to mind when you hear the words Boko Haram? Western media ran wild with ‘#bringbackourgirls,’ and we listened to the plight of devastated families, wailing for the return of their children. But the girls are not back and further still, many more are dying at the hands of Boko Haram. So who is Boko Haram? Was ‘#bringbackourgirls,’ a fad?

Sovereignty in the 21st Century: When Corporations Take on Governments

Tobacco corporations don’t garner much sympathy these days, what with all those early deaths and so forth. So when Phillip Morris Asia decided to use a process called Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) to challenge Australia’s 2011 plain packaging legislation, scrutiny of the already controversial process intensified. And with the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement expected to include ISDS provisions, ISDS is gaining increased attention in New Zealand. So what is it?

Gender Inequality: An Issue or an Individual's Choice?

By Hannah Ross-McAlpine

“Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge-” Andrea Dworkin

If you live in country, like New Zealand, you are most likely enjoying some of the highest levels of gender equality in the world. We are a nation that has afforded women the right to vote, the right to make their own choices, to live independently and have legal protection from any gender based discrimination. By comparison, we've made strides that many countries only aspire to.

So why are some feminists still talking about gender inequality in New Zealand, surely any inequality we experience is a result of individual choice?

It’s not the ‘Who?’ it’s the ‘What?’

On 20 September, New Zealand will go to a vote to decide who will lead us for the next 3 to 4 years. At Vantage Point we have asked a few political parties to answer some questions about their policies for the next term. National, Labour and the Greens have kindly answered us and in the next few weeks we will be releasing their answers.

We believe it’s the what not the who that matters, meaning it does matter whether you prefer John, David or Russell and Metiria. What should matter is whose policies you agree with. Unfortunately it can be hard to hear what those policies are within the white noise of mainstream media (short of seeking it out deliberately). Doing a match-making quiz online or through an app might give you an idea of who you might want to vote for or confirm that choice but you can only make an informed decision if you can compare what’s on offer. These apps only prescribe what you should do and that can be very dangerous.  We know it can be hard to make these choices and young people can sometimes feel disconnected from the world of politics.

So we asked members of these three parties how do they plan to involve young people and encourage them to have a political voice? What policies do they have that address problems that students and young people face?

>>Follow this link for their answers