The Christchurch community's response in the immediate aftermath of the mosque terrorist attacks has had a significant global impact, with one UN official praising Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership for seeking a sense of reconciliation over revenge.
However, she also saw concerns over New Zealand's underlying issue with racism within the wider community.
"We've come in solidarity, and we've come in deep appreciation for the leadership that New Zealand has provided from the affected community, from the City Council, and from the national Government," UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmour said of her visit to Christchurch on TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning.
"Most notably, the Prime Minister herself, because the message has been of coming together, of love triumphing over hate, and this is really remarkable."
Ms Gilmour called Ms Ardern's response to the terror attacks "quite distinct" in that "unlike many other leaders around the world who have met atrocity with claims of revenge, what New Zealand, remarkably, has done - and I believe we must pay tribute to the affected communities – has found a joined-up story of 'they are us' and 'this is not we.'"
"Immediately, that sense of belonging [and] connectedness really stands out. It spotlights New Zealand as being in a fundamentally different league of response than many other governments have chosen who also confronted grave atrocity," she said.
Ms Gilmour said that while critics may claim that many New Zealanders' great sense of pride over our collective response is masking or failing to address wider issues of racism within our society, she said people are beginning to comprehend that "something is being deeply wronged."
She said the first step to reconciling the tragedy of the March 15 event with deeper concerns of racism was through the recognition of its existence within our society.
"In order to lower the fist, you must first recognise that it was raised. In order to step forward to come together, you must first appreciate that you were standing too far apart, and I believe the distance – it's an unsustainable and unjust distance – is paved with racism, is paved with bigotry.
"It's clear to me that New Zealand has grappled with this and in some ways, it really has some good practices ... but against the backdrop of the war on terror, something horrendous has happened to anyone who identifies as a Muslim.
"They have been created in the quintessential other – to be held in contempt and in fear - this has to end."
She said what we can learn from other countries' experiences of terror is that "the affected community must be at the centre."
Ms Gilmour said upon her visit to Christchurch, she was "deeply affected by the evidence of the community of Christchurch coming together" in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
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