Kate Dewes (New Zealand – Aotearoa)
The text below was adapted from the Disarmament and Security Centre website: http://www.disarmsecure.org/people.php
Kate Dewes Ph.D. O.N.Z.M (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit) has been a passionate anti-nuclear campaigner for over 3 decades. She played a leading role in the New Zealand peace movement during the 1970s and 1980s, which resulted in New Zealand’s national nuclear-free legislation in 1987.
Kate directed the South Island Regional Office of the Aotearoa/New Zealand Peace Foundation from her home in Christchurch for 25 years and she has co-directed the Disarmament and Security Centre there since 2004. Kate taught Peace Studies from 1986-1997 and from 1999-2006 part-time at the University of Canterbury. Between 1988-90, and again from 2000-2007, she served on the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. From 1992-96, she was an International Peace Bureau (IPB) Executive member, and was a Vice President from 1997-2003.
In 2007 Kate was appointed as the first New Zealander to the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. The board meets twice a year and advises the Secretary General on matters relating to disarmament and arms control.. Kate was furthermore a pioneer of the World Court Project (WCP) - a world-wide campaign by a network of citizen organisations which resulted in an Advisory Opinion by the International Court of Justice stating that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally illegal, and that states have an obligation to conclude negotiations on their elimination. She was on the WCP’s International Steering Committee from 1992-96. Kate’s doctoral thesis documents the evolution and impact of the WCP. She co-authored Aotearoa/New Zealand at the World Court with her husband Robert Green and they have published several books, articles and chapters on disarmament issues which are published on their website (www.disarmsecure.org.
Kate Dewes has been a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Aotearoa) for over 30 years. She was the New Zealand government expert on the United Nations Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education from 2000-2002. Furthermore, Kate was the main instigator in the successful adoption of the proposal to have Christchurch declared New Zealand's first Peace City in July 2002.
In 2010 Kate received the prestigious Paul Harris Award from Rotary International and in 2011 she received the inaugural Annie Cook Centennial Award from Hamilton Girls' High School. The latter award is intended to “recognise a past student who has made an outstanding contribution in any fields of endeavor and who can inspire today’s student”. For more information on the Annie Cook Centennial Award that Kate Dewes received read the following articles:
- http://www.hghs.school.nz/files/High%20Flyer%20-%20August%20%202011.pdf
- http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/5306269/Honour-for-nuke-campaigner
Video featuring interview with Kate Dewes http://vimeo.com/11910643
