Hosted by the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs – Wellington Branch and the United Nations Association of New Zealand. This interactive dialogue on inequalities in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in New Zealand and the wider Asia - Pacific region will be led by Karim Dickie, NZIIA Board Member and UNANZ President, and Joy Dunsheath MNZM, Executive Vice-Chair WFUNA, in conversation with Mr Pio Smith, Asia – Pacific Regional Director for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities

Limited seats available.

United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA's mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA promote gender equality and empower women, girls and young people to take control of their bodies and their futures. They work with partners in more than 150 countries to provide access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services. Their goal is ending unmet need for family planning, preventable maternal death, and gender-based violence and harmful practices including child marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030.

Mr Pio Smith, Asia – Pacific Regional Director for UNFPA

Mr. Pio Smith assumed the role of UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Director in October 2023. As the Regional Director for UNFPA Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Smith oversees UNFPA's work in 36 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Smith was the Chief of Staff of UNFPA, providing strategic, political and operational leadership and oversight, a role he held since 2018 based at UNFPA’s headquarters in New York.

During his 18-year career with the United Nations, Mr. Smith has held key positions including working as Special Assistant to two UN Deputy Secretary-Generals and as Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning. He also served as Policy Officer in the UN’s Ethics Office and in the UN Secretariat’s Department of Management. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Smith worked in the UK Home Office on regulatory reform and with the UK Regional Assembly focusing on European policy.

Mr. Smith holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Dublin City University, Ireland, and a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages from the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. A national of Ireland, Mr. Smith is married and has four children.