We are excited to finally announce our National Strategy Team ✨🫱🏾🫲🏽💻🎥⛑️✨
Jenny being born in Aotearoa from first generation former refugees, Amor and Maritza growing up here after arriving very young, and Sigifredo being a freshly arrived former refugee from indigenous background, together they will be enhancing our National Youth Leaders Program as advocates for their colleagues, advisors for our over all training and pave the pathway we continue moving forward towards.
These amazing 4️⃣ - have shown initiative, truly contributed and displayed real leadership skills on the field, within their regions, nationwide and brought to light their idea, contributions and continuous projects that lay in their area of expertise.
After a year of amazing contributions Jenny, Amor and Maritza have moved to a third level of achievement within our National Youth Leaders Program. While Sigifredo will start growing his experience in Aotearoa with us, his prior experience in the field is so rare and special, he will be guiding us in his area of experience while we contribute to his growth in the new system he finds himself.
Our National Strategy Team is a demonstration of the value and skills our Refugee background Rangatahi bring to the table. We are only acknowledging their amazing achievements by ensuring a space that upholds their abilities, giving long overdue appreciation to the skills they have excelled to achieve in their journey as refugees, within Aotearoa and prior in their motherland.
This amazing team now leads the future of our organisation as experts that understand the true vision of our organisation and will support the continuous growth and enhancement of our program through all settlement regions.
Congratulations on your new milestone as Refugee Background Leaders! 🥳🎉
🎓✨ Congratulations to our 20 refugee-background youth in Timaru who have graduated from our Level One Meaningful Refugee Youth Leadership Programme!
Over six months, these amazing young people explored their dreams, values, and challenges, built confidence, and developed leadership skills to make a positive impact in their communities. 🌟
They also learned about their rights, connected with their city, and even planned small projects to create change locally. 📝🤝
A huge thank you to Timaru District Council for your generous support, and to Timaru Refugee Services for walking alongside us. 💙
We can’t wait to see these young leaders continue their journey in Level Two! 🚀
#RefugeeYouth #Leadership #Timaru #YouthVoices #Community
We concluded 2025 and here are our Newsletter 📰✨
A little delayed as our summer South Island Tour concluded at the end of our working schedule before the holidays, but it’s never to late to celebrate and remember an epic year of National Refugee Youth Work🥳🎉
By Refugee Youth, for Refugee Youth 🌱🌿🪴🌳
We have began 2026 and our youth are excited to show you more of their local mahi across all settlement areas 🙌🏽
#nznrycnewsletters2026
Last year, as part of our Youth-led World Refugee Week celebrations in Wellington, refugee-background young people came together to create and perform an original devised theatre production titled The Strangers’ Case, inspired by Shakespeare and exploring themes of belonging, identity, empathy, and the refugee experience.
These amazing young people devised, performed, and shaped the production through storytelling, poetry, movement, dance, and music, creating a powerful space to celebrate their identities, cultures, languages, and experiences through the arts.
A special acknowledgement to our youth leader alumni, @_dani0209_ who helped produce and lead this incredible project together with the young people.
These photos capture moments from the creative process and performances. It was incredibly powerful to see audiences leave feeling moved, challenged, and reflecting on the stereotypes often placed on refugee communities.
We are incredibly proud of all the refugee youth who shared their creativity, talent, and stories with the Wellington community.
Thank you so much to Wellington City Council for supporting this project through the Creative Communities Scheme funding.
We officially launched our new project in Levin in partnership with the Ministry of Education!
It’s our community learning hub for young people and parents to come together and understand more about the education system, have fun and build stronger relationships.
Thanks to our regional activator @sergioascanioal and youth leader @sigifredo_franco for all their hard work creating this hub!
We are excited to announce our next National Youth Leaders Program Wānanga of Cohort 2026 🥳🎉
✨Now leading 10 years of MRYP as the only refugee led organisation working across the country and across ethnicities within our refugee communities, our beginning were humble but our development continuous ✨
Our NGO has come along way from doing little catch ups at one of our board or trustees home to brainstorm and let our dreams, passion and aspiration drive our movement and national vision, to three years ago, when our CEO @daniel.gamboasa took the decision to support our Refugee Youth Led Kaupapa at a full time capacity. Hosting then the last two wānanga of 2024 & 2025 cohorts at beautiful nature surrounded spaces that allow our National team to emerge in the connection and bond we share as Refugee Background Rangatahi.
Our youth deserve to have spaces made specially for them, where they grow together and bring ideas to life to better their own and their communities continuous settlement journey while navigating challenges and barriers in a unfamiliar system and society.
We are looking forward to an amazing long weekend together, learning and celebrating the endeavours of our 2025 cohort so far and welcoming our new 2026 National Team 🌱🌿🪴🌳
We are excited for our special guests and family of our rangatahi who will join us throughout the weekend, we are excited to see you all very soon 🫶🏽✨✨✨
#nznryc
#nznrycyearlywānanga
#nznryc2026
Our wonderful team had the privilege to be supported and encouraged by wonderful adult leaders of the refugee background community in Palmy.
Govindah, the Pathways to Settlement Manager of Palmerston North Red Cross, a loved man by the community, father of one of our graduates and a man of community shared a speech with a special touch.
He lined up our National engagement lead and Ehsan, our National Youth Leaders Program alumni ex- Red Cross Settlement Youth Workers and Deema, now Palmy Settlement Youth Worker, our current MRYP trainee and graduate of MRYP level 1 in a ladder using the stairs of our stage.
He’s aim? To showcase how leadership is a skill that must be passed down, not a position of power to he hold on to.
This moment brought tears of joy and inspiration to our youth, it was a genuine display of leadership. He encourages and inspired all of our refugee background youth participants to continue to grow and develop into the best version of themselves and of community leaders who’s focus must be to help our communities settle, and feel sense of belonging.
This moment made us want to ask all the community leaders out there to think; Who have you empowered to become a leader? Who will you support to be next in line to continue doing the work and carry the legacy you will leave for the future leaders to inherit?
From our Refugee Youth Led NGO, to all our refugee background youth in Aotearoa, their communities and families, we are grateful for your support and for the trust you lay in the hands of our youth. They are more than capable and skilled to ensure the future holds positive change and brighter days.
We are all in this together ✊🏽✨🫶🏽💫
#mryppalmy
#nznrycpalmy
#refugeebackgroundyouth
#refugeebackgroundaotearoa
What an unimaginable night we had with our Palmy Youth and community on their MRYP Leadership Lvl 1 graduation ✨👩🏾🎓👨🏻🎓🧑🏾🎓👩🏼🎓✨
Twelve young people in person and two online graduated of our MRYP starting 2026. New year, new achievements for our refugee background rangatahi in Palmerston North 🥳🎉
We had the honour to be supported by the amazing Somayyeh from @pncitycouncil in the area of Welcoming communities as well as the manager of the Pathways to Settlement from @nzredcross Govinda in the Palmy area and the ex- Youth Settlement Worker @ehsanali4393 who is also our NZNRYC Alumni from the 2022 cohort.
The amount of love and support from the community for our young people to continue aspiring to become the kind of leaders that serve their community was overwhelming positive. We are proud to see the Palmy community understands that the reflection of their collective growth is their young people and how much we invest in them.
Hurra Palmy youth! You did that! You showed up and you were all celebrated for this milestone!
Your presentations, consistency and dedication to becoming a better version of yourself not only made us proud, but it made the adult leaders in your community feel like they can leave the future in your hands.
We are so proud of you and we’re eager to see you continue your journey through level 2 and become part of our National Youth a leaders Program - Team as soon as possible! This beautiful country and our communities need you✨ ✊🏽🥹👏🏽 🥳🎉✨
#nznrycpalmy
#palmymryp
#mryplvl1
👀 Have you ever wanted to help lead a national organisation?
Well… this might be your moment.
The New Zealand National Refugee Youth Council has 2 vacancies on our Board of Trustees, and we’re looking for people who want to join us and support the work we do with refugee-background youth across Aotearoa.
If you’ve got experience in finance, strategy, community or youth leadership, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply on the link in our bio.
2nd Stop 🌸~ Dunedin ~ 🌸
Dunedin is our special Wāhine Youth Leaders Group.
Formed by amazing young refugee background girls who are studying at Otago university.
We have identified the special needs and isolating challenges our Wāhine in tertiary education face being away from home, or living in the area with a larger university community (cultural aspects come into play a lot.)
So our amazing Leaders Camila and Hanifa have been leading this catch up group for them to hang out and get together to enjoy a drink and discuss challenges and solutions.
Our Engagement Lead visited them during our Summer Tour and they had a blast 🥳🎉🌺✨🍰🧃
Her and our Media Lead Maritza also filmed @nathacif_2 ‘s journey and her life in Otago studying Medicine 🙌🏽🪴
Excited to continue seeing our Wāhine journey’s and their dreams in education fulfilled ✊🏽🩺🧬🩻🦠🔭
#nznrycdunedin
