Roundtable with Farah Pandith
Sworn in 2009, Farah Pandith was appointed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State.
Ms Pandith recently visited New Zealand to speak at the Auckland EthnicA Conference organised by Office of Ethnic Affairs. Asia:NZ Young leaders were given the opportunity to participate in a roundtable with Ms Pandith made possible by the US Embassy in New Zealand and facilitated by Asia:NZ trustee Ruth De Souza.
Young leaders share their impressions of meeting Ms Pandith in person and finding out more about her role and mission.
Elizabeth Chan:
Farah Pandith is a spirited and captivating woman. She sees her role as a "connector" of peoples, facilitating opportunities for Muslim engagement. To her, government and civil society should work together: the government can provide spaces for change to occur but the change must be driven by civil society. She told us about Generation Change, a forum for American Muslim change-makers. Their activities range from hip hop artists and film makers to activists and grassroots leaders who combine their talents and reach out to Muslim communities. By the end of the roundtable in Auckland, Ms Pandith had connected a young leader to a group in the UK organising Ramadan festivals.
Her mandate - to foster positive dialogue with Muslim communities and correct negative stereotypes about American attitudes to Muslims - is massive. Ms Pandith emphasised that the Obama administration's focus on Muslim communities is unprecedented. The creation of her role, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, is proof of the importance given to Muslim engagement. In a world where politics is too often plagued by incendiary anti-Muslim rhetoric, Ms Pandith's enthusiasm and open-mindedness is vitally important and she sets an example for how we can engage with our own thriving Muslim communities here in New Zealand.
M Aman Ullah:
As per my understanding, Farah Pandith is ‘mainly’ targeting young generations in different countries, as she is responsible for implementing Secretary Clinton’s vision for engaging with Muslims around the world. I thought she would be discussing the role of the younger generation in the recent Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and around the world and would tell us about a US perspective on it. Anyway, it was refreshing to listen to Farah’s talk. She has been trying to engage with the young generation around the world using social networking sites and communities.
As she mentioned during her talk, she is trying to engage with “Muslim communities in particular on a local level and to find ways to connect individuals with great ideas to each other” – which is also inspirational. Once their ideas are shared and magnified, they can make a difference on a global scale by bringing youth from different communities together for a better future.
Bevan Chuang:
It was lovely to meet Farah Pandith in person after hearing her keynote speech at the EthnicA Conference. Her passion and belief that the 'under 30s' are the ones who will make a difference to the community was clearly demonstrated in her discussion.
Seeing her tweets and Facebook messages immediately after the discussion was also interesting:
“Grt mtg w/ Asia:NZ Foundtn Young Leaders Network who asked about hate speech, women's issues, & ideas 4 youth projects”
“One young leader asked "how do I start making change?" My answer: start small, start local, #volunteer”
It made me feel like she is engaging us in a conversation and was keen to work with the young leaders on issues important to her. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we are truly grateful for and hope more great leaders come over this way to New Zealand!
