White Ribbon Ambassador Arish Naresh in Queen’s Birthday Honours

We were delighted to learn that White Ribbon Ambassador Arish Naresh was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his services to the community and dentistry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. At just 34 years of age, Arish has already made a substantial contribution both to the community as a whole and in his field.

Arish was born in Fiji and moved to New Zealand in 2006. When he was growing up his opportunities were limited so he created his own path. Now, he is dedicated to seeing other people succeed. In 2018, we were thrilled to have him become a White Ribbon Ambassador. There had been challenges in his wider family with family violence, which he attributes in part to poverty and alcohol issues. Working with migrant communities in his many roles, Arish was aware that family violence and a general lack of equality and respect for women were areas that needed to change. There is a culture of keeping these things hidden and last year’s campaign to Challenge the Unspoken Rules really resonated with him, as that was part of his motivation in stepping up to take on the Ambassador role.

Arish has held a number of senior leadership positions within the healthcare sector in New Zealand and is currently residing in Adelaide in a fixed term role as Program Director for Specialty Medicine at Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is enjoying the opportunity to learn about the Australian health care system but he is also really looking forward to returning to his home base in Gisborne soon.

Helping others is a core principle for Arish. He has been a Board Member of UNICEF New Zealand and a Justice of the Peace. He is also the Founder of OWDSOCKS –Opportunities without Discrimination. Arish is committed to working to prevent violence against women and looks forward to continuing this mission on his return to New Zealand.

We are extremely grateful to Arish for his commitment to White Ribbon and his dedication to helping migrants thrive, not just survive, in New Zealand. If you know someone in your community who is willing to stand up, speak out and act to prevent violence against women, please talk to them about becoming a White Ribbon Ambassador. Having community leaders spread the kaupapa within their community, is a vital part of our efforts to prevent violence against women. Please click here to download a nomination form. If you have any questions about the process or the role please contact us at contact@whiteribbon.org.nz