2022 Report on Children’s Rights
The Alliance’s 2022 Children’s Rights Report was provided to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in August 2022. This 6th alternative children’s rights report from the Alliance sets out, from a civil society point of view, what is going well for children and where we believe changes are needed to advance and protect their rights.
Supplementary information was provided to the UN Committee in December 2022, to update them on developments since the Pre-session in September, when the Alliance met with them to discuss the children’s rights situation in Aotearoa..
The UN Committee, which is made up of 18 international experts on children’s rights, will use the information from the Alliance and others to engage in constructive dialogue with the Government delegation and recommend steps to strengthen respect for children’s rights in Aotearoa. This is due to happen over 26 and 27 January 2023 (Geneva time). This is 3am – 6am, and 10pm – 1am on 27/28 January, New Zealand time.
You can follow the discussions in Geneva, via the UN’s web TV.
· The Government’s dialogue with the Committee will be screened live on UN web TV: https://media.un.org/en/webtv/
· Recordings of the Session will be available here: http://webtv.un.org/
What does the Children’s Rights Alliance Report 2022 say?
“Greater priority needs to be given to all rights, for all children in Aotearoa, in all circumstances. This requires improved awareness and understanding, particularly amongst decision-makers, as to how children’s rights can be applied to improve children’s experiences and outcomes, and how children’s rights can be woven through the work of government at all levels, to support better experiences and outcomes for children from the very start of life and throughout all stages of childhood.”
Paragraph 4, Children’s Rights Alliance Report 2022
In Aotearoa, respect for all the rights of tamariki Māori is critical to meeting CRC obligations.
In addition to the rights that tamariki Māori hold with all children under the CRC, Tamariki Māori hold unique rights and protections that are especial to them as:
· The tangata whenua of Aotearoa in accordance with te ao Māori, including, in particular, tikanga Māori.
· Partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Māori language version of the Treaty of Waitangi signed between representatives of Māori and the British Crown in 1840.
· Indigenous children to whom all rights as Indigenous peoples under international law, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), attach.
For more information on the rights of tamariki Māori and what that means for the implementation of the CRC in Aotearoa see the Rights of Tamariki Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand Thematic Report, submitted to the UN Committee by Te Puna Rangahau o Te Wai Ariki | Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law.
Inequities in the realisation and experience of children’s rights in Aotearoa is a strong theme of our Alliance report.
Aotearoa needs to address discrimination, including racism, and actively work towards the rights of all children being upheld equally - to plan for children, prioritising them and their future.
What our report said: Key children’s rights issues in Aotearoa
Our report finds that there are many areas where implementation of children’s rights in Aotearoa needs to be strengthened. We identified the following issues as priorities needing urgent attention:
1. Greater respect for the rights of tāmariki Māori as tāngata whenua and under the Children’s Convention.
2. An end to discrimination, including racism, so the rights of all children are upheld equally, with particular attention to the rights of:
tamariki Māori
Pasifika children
Disabled children
Children with refugee and migrant backgrounds
3. Greater efforts to protect children from violence and abuse, including through violence prevention.
4. Support for families and whānau, so all children can know and, as far as possible, be cared for by their families. Upholding children’s rights in:
Oranga Tamariki changes
Adoption and surrogacy law reform
5. An adequate standard of living and good health for all children, with priority focus on
mental health
timely access to quality health services for all children.
warm, safe housing
nutritious food
6. Mechanisms to ensure that children and their rights are central to climate change policy (mitigation and adaptation) and climate justice initiatives; and that children are listened to and respected as active change agents on climate change.
7. An increase in the minimum age of criminal responsibility; inclusion of all 17 year olds in the youth justice system; an end to detention of young people in Police detention and an end to the use of physical restraints in detention; removal of NZ’s age-mixing reservation.
8. Adequate protections for children who work and removal of NZ’s reservation on child labour.
Children’s environmental rights and climate change
Given the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report on the climate crisis and the work currently underway by the UN Committee to develop General Comment 26 on children’s environmental rights, our 2022 report joins calls internationally and within Aotearoa for children and their rights to be central to policies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, including efforts to keep global warming to a minimum.
Thematic reports
Thematic reports from a variety of organisations were also sent to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee will use these reports to prepare for their discussions with the NZ government. We would like to thank everyone for their work on these reports, which were often produced on top of other, on-going, mahi. As well as ensuring the UN Committee is well informed, these reports provide a wealth of information for our advocacy for children here in Aotearoa.
Basic Health and Welfare Rights of Children 0-5 years of age Thematic Report, submitted by Whānau Āwhina Plunket, Save the Children New Zealand, Child Poverty Action Group and the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services.
Child Poverty Thematic Report, submitted by Child Poverty Action Group.
Children in State Care Thematic Report, submitted by VOYCE Whakarongo-Mai.
Children’s Rights in a Changing Climate Thematic Report, submitted by OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council.
Cooper Legal report, submitted by Cooper Legal.
Intersex Aotearoa Thematic Report, submitted by Intersex Aotearoa (New Zealand).
New Zealand Indigenous Tamariki Voices Thematic Report, submitted by Hāpai te Hauora Tāpui | Ngā Rangatahi ā Iwi
Optional Protocol for Child Trafficking, Prostitution and Pornography Thematic Report, submitted by ECPAT NZ Child Alert.
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the Convention on the Rights of the Child Thematic Report, submitted by Peace Movement Aotearoa.
Rights of Tamariki Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand Thematic Report, submitted by Te Puna Rangahau o Te Wai Ariki | Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law.
The sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people in Aotearoa New Zealand Thematic Report, submitted by New Zealand Family Planning.
The Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in Aotearoa New Zealand Thematic Paper, submitted by the Children’s Rights Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (Author: Enys Delmage).
What happen’s next?
The UN Committee will consider our reports and has spoken with us, as civil society, about it. Based on all the information the UN Committee has, including our report, they will have a formal dialogue with a Government delegation.
This meeting or formal dialogue is called our Session and is scheduled for 26 and 27 January 2023.
The UN Committee will then issue a set of concluding observations, identifying areas where there has been progress on children’s rights in Aotearoa and, also, making recommendations about what more can be done to realise children’s rights. Some of these recommendations will be prioritised as being urgent.
Together, as an Alliance, we will use these recommendations to advocate for positive change for children over the coming 8 years, when our next report is due, and beyond.
Background: What has happened so far this reporting cycle?
The Government’s report
Aotearoa uses the UN’s Simplified Reporting Process. (Find out more about this process here.)
Using information from the Alliance and others, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has asked the Government of New Zealand to report on a limited number of issues, which are set out in a List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR).
Read the Government’s report here.
This is Aotearoa’s 6th periodic Children’s Rights report to the UN.
During 2020 the Alliance reported twice to the UN Committee to help inform the LOIPR.
First, in March 2020, we provided written input to the LOIPR, outlining the issues central to the realisation of children’s rights in Aotearoa. Read our LOIPR report here.
In June 2020 we also submitted a supplementary report on the impact of COVID-19 on children in Aotearoa. You can read our 2020 COVID-19 report here.
Reporting keeps children’s issues on the agenda and holds the Government to account on its international obligations to all children in Aotearoa.
We have now submitted our alternative report for the 6th periodic reporting cycle to the UN. This is our main report for this reporting cycle.
The UN Committee will use our report, together with other reports provided by civil society, the Children’s Commissioner and the Human Rights Commission to inform their examination of the NZ Government’s progress on children’s rights on 26 and 27 January 2023 (Geneva time).
Our alternative report is comprehensive and contains:
More detailed information on the issues/questions included in our LOIPR report;
Information on new developments relating to children’s rights in Aotearoa;
Comments to the Government’s report;
Questions for the UN Committee to raise with the Government;
Suggested recommendations, for the Committee to consider making to Government;
Information about gaps in the LOIPR and the State Report.
See the Child Rights Connect website for more detailed information about the reporting process..
How can you be involved?
This reporting cycle is almost over but the next one is about to begin. There are a number of ways you can be involved in the Alliance’s mahi to promote and protect children’s rights in Aotearoa. Once the UN Committee issues its recommendations to New Zealand, there will be much work to do to make the changes needed to uphold children’s rights in Aotearoa.