Our belief
Children’s rights are about real, everyday things like education, health, having an adequate standard of living and being well cared for. Children’s rights are about treating all children and tamariki with respect and listening to them, recognising that all children and tamariki need love, guidance and support from their families and whānau, opportunities to play and be with friends, and to be valued as part of their communities.
Applying children’s rights.
Children’s rights set minimum standards and, at the same time, they are aspirational.
By signing up to the Convention, the Government made a solemn promise to do all it can to advance and uphold children’s rights; to create an environment for all children to thrive and realise their potential.
The Convention must be applied as a whole, its provisions are indivisible and interdependent. Applying children’s rights is about balance. It is also about working with children and tamariki, their families and whānau, not “doing to”.
There are four general principles that apply across the Convention and must be considered when applying each of the specific articles.
They are:
(i) Non-discrimination - the rights within the Convention apply to every child without discrimination on any ground (Article 2)
(ii) Best interests – the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all actions concerning children. (Article 3(1))
(iii) Right to life, survival and development – every child has the right to life and maximum possible survival and development. (Article 6)
(iv) Participation – respect for the views of the child in all matters affecting them. (Article 12)
The Convention sees children as part of, and guided by, their families, whānau and communities.
Article 5 is a fundamental principle of the Convention.
It requires Government to respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of children’s parents, families and wider communities.
It also recognises the idea of evolving capacities of the child - as children grow they take more control over the exercise of their own rights.
Article 5 is critical to developing our understanding of what it means to apply the Convention in Aotearoa in ways that respect the rights of tamariki, whānau, hapu and iwi Māori.
Learn more about children’s rights and why they matter.
You can learn more about children’s rights and why they matter here.
If you would like to learn more about how to apply the Children’s Convention in more detail, Unicef’s “Implementation Handbook on the Rights of the Child” is a very useful starting point.
Children’s rights and wellbeing.
Respecting and upholding children’s and young people’s rights is a guiding principle of Aotearoa’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy.
The Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy was launched in 2019 to provide a shared understanding of what needs to be done to improve child and youth wellbeing .
There are synergies, and also differences, between a children’s rights and a children’s wellbeing approach or framework.
At heart, both children’s rights and children’s wellbeing are about making children’s and tamariki’s lives the best they can be.
As the Children’s Rights Alliance, we take a children's rights approach to our mahi. We believe that actively realising and upholding children’s rights will enhance their wellbeing.
How do rights differ from ‘needs’ or ‘well-being’?
Child rights have grown out of ‘needs’ for special care and protection, and fulfilling children’s rights leads to their improved ‘well- being’. ‘Well-being’ is another way to frame the fulfilment of children’s material and psychosocial needs. However, rights are stronger than ‘needs’ or ‘well-being’. A charity approach responding to children’s ‘needs’ reinforces power imbalances, relies on sympathy, and is not sustainable. In contrast, an approach based on child ‘rights’ is grounded in obligations and accountability, working with children, not just for them, respecting their human dignity and agency. It is more universal, holistic, respectful and sustainable.
From Unicef online training model “Child rights and why they matter”