Category: Youth

By its third year, an annual event either finds its character or it fades. The third annual Youth and Family Peace Day, held on Saturday 8 November 2025 at the Due Drop Event Centre, Sir Robinson Conference Centre, Manukau, found its character — and then some.

More than 150 participants from across Auckland’s faith and cultural communities gathered under the conviction that had animated the event since its inaugural gathering in 2023: that family building is nation building, and that the most durable foundations of peace are laid not in policy documents or diplomatic agreements, but in the daily life of families who choose to love well.

Opening Ceremony

The programme commenced at 1:00 pm with an opening ceremony that carried the warmth and spiritual grounding that has become a hallmark of UPF New Zealand’s events.

A karakia by Apotoro Shannon Leilua of the Ratana Church opened the gathering — grounding the afternoon in the spiritual inheritance of Aotearoa. The New Zealand national anthem followed, sung together by the assembled community, before Mr. Geoffrey Fyers, UPF NZ Secretary-General, and Mr. Amon Watanabe of FFWPU Youth formally welcomed the gathering and outlined the day’s programme.

Mr. Kenji Watanabe, UPF NZ Chairman, offered opening remarks that situated the afternoon’s celebration in UPF New Zealand’s ongoing work — the National Family Day Petition, the network of Ambassadors for Peace across Aotearoa, and the conviction that communities like the one assembled at Due Drop are the living proof that a culture of peace is possible.

Keynote: Family Building is Nation Building

The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Ross Robertson QSC, AFP — former Deputy Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, long-serving Ambassador for Peace, and one of the most trusted voices in UPF New Zealand’s community. Ross returned to the Youth and Family Peace Day stage with a message as clear and timely as ever: “Family Building is Nation Building.”

The keynote addressed a truth that sits beneath much of the political and social turbulence of the current moment: that nations are not built primarily by governments, markets, or institutions, but by the families that form the moral and relational substrate of national life. A nation whose families are strong — where children are loved and guided, where spouses are committed and faithful, where the elderly are honoured and cared for — is a nation with reserves of resilience that no government programme can easily replicate.

Ross spoke with the authority of a man who has spent decades in public life watching what happens when those reserves are depleted — and the conviction of someone who believes it is not too late to rebuild them.

The LDS Church Manukau Stake added a warmly received musical performance to the opening proceedings, contributing a spirit of joy and community that set the tone for the afternoon ahead.

A Programme Built for Community

The afternoon programme drew on the strengths that Youth and Family Peace Day has developed across three years: cultural performances that showcase Auckland’s extraordinary diversity; exhibition tables giving community organisations the opportunity to share their resources; and the informal conversations that happen in corridors and over shared food — often the most meaningful part of any gathering.

The event brought together participants from Pacific Island, South Asian, East Asian, Māori, and mainstream New Zealand communities — a cross-section of Auckland that rarely finds itself in the same room, and that discovers, each time it does, more common ground than difference.

Three Years and Growing

Youth and Family Peace Day has now become one of UPF New Zealand’s most significant annual contributions to Auckland’s community life. From the inaugural event in 2023 — which drew more than 350 people and established the template — to the deepened programme of 2024, and now to the 2025 gathering with its third cohort of participants, the event has grown into something the community can count on.

Planning is already underway for Youth and Family Peace Day 2026. UPF New Zealand looks forward to welcoming an even broader cross-section of Auckland’s families, faith communities, and civic leaders to what has become one of the most distinctive days in the organisation’s calendar — and one of the clearest expressions of the conviction that drives everything UPF New Zealand does: that peace begins at home.

It is one thing to hold an event. It is another to hold it twice — and watch it grow. On Saturday 9 November 2024, the second annual Youth and Family Peace Day opened its doors at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, South Auckland, and over 300 people came to be part of it.

The venue was the same as the inaugural event in 2023 — a deliberate choice. Due Drop has become the home of Youth and Family Peace Day, and its familiar halls carried the memory of what had been built there a year earlier, even as the 2024 programme brought new energy, new partners, and a new theme: “Communities United for Fostering Peace, Strengthening Families, and Empowering Youth.”

Opening the Day

The opening programme began at 11:00 am in the main hall. The day started, as it had in 2023, with a karakia — this year offered by Tokorima Aperahama, Ratana Church youth representative, who has become a familiar and beloved presence at UPF New Zealand events. His family joined him in a hymn that grounded the morning in the spiritual values of Aotearoa.

Ruth Cleaver, a senior member of UPF New Zealand and former President of the Auckland Interfaith Council, served as MC for the opening session — acknowledging the partner organisations whose presence filled the exhibition hall next door with information, resources, and community goodwill.

Kenji Watanabe, Chairman of UPF New Zealand, and Geoffrey Fyers, Secretary General, delivered opening remarks and presented the Resolution of the National Family Day Petition — reaffirming the campaign’s call for the New Zealand Government to recognise 11 November as a dedicated national family day, and inviting the assembled community to add their voices to the movement.

Distinguished Guests

The event was again honoured by the presence of distinguished guests whose welcoming remarks lent the occasion civic weight and warmth:

• Hon. Jenny Salesa, Member of Parliament — returning for her second consecutive Youth and Family Peace Day, her presence a sign of Parliament’s growing recognition of UPF New Zealand’s contribution to Auckland’s community life
• Mr. Keu Mataroa, Consul General of the Cook Islands — representing the Pacific community’s stake in the values of family and peace that the event embodies
• Mr. Joe Fatuleai, Stake President of Redoubt, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — bringing the voice of one of South Auckland’s most active faith communities

Keynote: The Family as the School of Love

The keynote address was delivered by Greg Stone, Secretary General of UPF Oceania — returning to the Youth and Family Peace Day stage for the second year running. His keynote built on the theme he had introduced in 2023, deepening the community’s understanding of the relationship between family life and societal peace.

Greg’s central message was one that his audiences find both challenging and liberating: “The family is not just the building block of society — it is the school where we learn to love, to forgive, and to live for others.”

This is a claim with practical implications. If the family is where we learn to love — or fail to — then the health of families is not a private matter. It is the most public of all concerns, because every family that succeeds in raising children with the capacity to love and serve is making a contribution to the peace of the society those children will inhabit and lead.

The Exhibition Hall: Resources for Real Life

One of the most distinctive features of the 2024 Youth and Family Peace Day was the expanded exhibition hall, where faith groups, social service organisations, government institutions, and NGOs set up information tables offering practical resources on:

• Healthy marriages and relationship skills
• Parenting with purpose and positive family values
• Youth leadership and character development
• Interfaith cooperation and community belonging

Partner organisations from across Auckland — spanning Pacific Island churches, South Asian community groups, mainstream social services, local government, and civil society — contributed information, performances, and presentations throughout the day. The exhibition hall was, in many ways, the most democratic part of the event: a space where visitors could wander at their own pace, pick up a resource that spoke to their situation, and have a conversation that might change something for them.

A Growing Movement

More than 300 people came to the Due Drop Events Centre on 9 November 2024. They came from different parts of Auckland, different cultural backgrounds, different faith traditions, and different generations. They stayed for different lengths of time and took away different things — but they all came.

The steady growth of Youth and Family Peace Day — from 350+ across a full-day programme in 2023 to 300+ through a refined and deepened programme in 2024 — reflects not a decline, but a maturing: an event that has found its form and is growing in depth as it grows in reach. The third annual Youth and Family Peace Day is already being planned for November 2025, and UPF New Zealand is looking forward to welcoming even more families, young people, and community leaders to what has become one of Auckland’s most distinctive annual peace gatherings.

It had been three years in the making. Since October 2020, UPF New Zealand had been developing the vision for an event that could bring together Auckland’s multicultural community around a single, powerful conviction: that lasting peace in society begins with strong, loving families. On Saturday 11 November 2023, that vision became reality.

The inaugural Youth and Family Peace Day was held at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau — one of Auckland’s most iconic venues, chosen deliberately for its capacity to welcome a broad and diverse community. From 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, more than 350 people came and went throughout the day, making it the most significant public event in UPF New Zealand’s history to that point.

The date — 11 November — was itself intentional. Known internationally as Armistice Day, it is a day of remembrance for those lost to war. For UPF New Zealand, it carries a second meaning: as the proposed date for a national Family Day in New Zealand — a day to affirm that the prevention of war begins not in diplomacy, but in the family, where the next generation learns to love and to live for others.

A Vision Three Years in the Making

The purpose of Youth and Family Peace Day, as articulated by the organising committee, was threefold: to create a pro-family and marriage culture in New Zealand; to teach young people a loyal and sincere heart; and to share practical steps toward building what UPF calls “blessed families” — families grounded in love, commitment, and service — in partnership with like-minded organisations across the community.

The three-year development period had allowed UPF New Zealand to build the partnerships, the programme architecture, and the community relationships necessary to make the event something genuinely participatory, rather than merely a platform for speeches.

Opening the Day

The opening programme began at 11:00 am in the main hall. A karakia led by Tokorima Aperahama, a Ratana Church youth representative, opened the gathering in the spiritual tradition of Aotearoa — grounding the day’s celebration in a deep respect for the land and for the Creator who made us one family.

Opening remarks were delivered by Kenji Watanabe, Chairman of UPF New Zealand, and Geoffrey Fyers, Secretary General. The resolution of the National Family Day Petition — UPF New Zealand’s ongoing campaign to establish 11 November as a dedicated national family day — was presented as part of the formal opening.

Distinguished guests who brought welcoming remarks to the occasion included:

• Hon. Jenny Salesa — Member of Parliament, New Zealand
• Keu Mataroa — Consul General of the Cook Islands
• Joe Fatuleai — Stake President of Redoubt, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Keynote: Peace Begins at Home

The keynote address was delivered by Greg Stone, Secretary General of UPF Oceania — a speaker whose long experience in the region lent his words both authority and warmth. His message was the thread that ran through the entire day: “Peace building starts with family building, expanding outward to peace in the society and the nation.”

It is a deceptively simple claim. But in a world that tends to address peace through the lens of geopolitics, diplomacy, and institutional power, it represents a genuinely different starting point — one that places responsibility for the condition of the world not primarily with governments or international bodies, but with each family, and each individual within it.

Three Pillars of the Programme

The full-day programme was structured around three core components, each running in parallel throughout the event:

Cultural Performances — showcasing the extraordinary diversity of New Zealand’s multicultural community. Performers from Pacific Island, Asian, and New Zealand communities filled the stage with music, dance, and artistic expression that celebrated the richness of Aotearoa’s people.

Youth and Family Cultural Presentations — young people taking the stage to share their own vision for a peaceful future. These presentations were among the most powerful moments of the day — not polished speeches, but genuine expressions from the next generation about what they believe, what they hope for, and what kind of world they want to build.

Marriage and Family Culture Presentations — exploring the practical and philosophical foundations of strong family life. Partner organisations from faith communities, social services, and civil society presented resources, insights, and personal stories about marriage, parenting, and the daily work of building a family that blesses those around it.

A Day That Exceeded All Expectations

By any measure, the inaugural Youth and Family Peace Day exceeded expectations. More than 350 people — a number that would have seemed ambitious in planning meetings — came to Due Drop Events Centre and stayed, moved through the programme, connected with exhibitors, and left with something they had not had before: a sense of being part of a community with a shared vision.

UPF New Zealand’s firm conviction — that the four pillars of family love (children’s love toward parents, siblings’ love, conjugal love, and parental love) are the foundation of a peaceful society — had found, in this event, its most vivid public expression. And in the days and weeks that followed, the momentum of the National Family Day Petition continued to grow.

Armistice Day, 11 November 2023, had become something new for UPF New Zealand: the beginning of an annual tradition. Youth and Family Peace Day would return in 2024 — and the community that had gathered for the first time in Manukau would keep growing.