‘The NZ Royal Commission COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā’ has the purpose to ensure New Zealand learns from the experience of the pandemic to prepare for the future. As part of the Convention Monitoring Group (CMG), Children’s Rights Alliance Aotearoa met with the Royal Commission to shine a light on the impact the pandemic response had on children’s rights, to help ensure gaps in the COVID-19 response are addressed and future pandemic and emergency responses are strengthened. A summary of key gaps, impacts and recommendations is available below. Public consultation will be open in 2024 and more information will be shared with the Alliance in due course.

Gaps in the COVID-19 response

• Children’s rights were not central to pandemic decision-making;

• Children need to be protected from the pandemic infection *and* from the direct and indirect impacts of the response;

• There was a lack of leadership for children and their whānau overall and for each pillar of the pandemic response;

• Children under 5 years and children from marginalised groups were especially invisible in the response;

• Children’s needs were addressed on an ad hoc basis;

• When children were a focus, this was poorly coordinated and not child-centred.

Consequences of the gaps

• The consequences of the pandemic during a foundational period in life are multi-faceted and long-lasting;

• Many of the impacts are yet to be fully understood or addressed, covering interconnected issues such as:

  • Income, housing and food insecurity;

  • mental health and social wellbeing;

  • access to health, disability and social services, including preventive care such as immunisation;

  • education, and so on.

• Childhood inequities have worsened; the impact was especially felt by tamariki Māori and Pasifika children and children in marginalised groups (see below).

Recommendations

1. NEMA urgently embeds a child-centred approach in their structures, systems, plans, and practices. This will involve engaging with children/youth as a key stakeholder group and working with the community sector. For example, when needs assessments are completed during emergencies, information about children should be collected; support for whānau that have a higher need level should be prioritised, such as one parent families, families with newborns, families with disabled children or parent/s. The NEMA structure should establish a children’s subfunction that is stood up to comprehensively support the needs, rights and wellbeing of children during all emergencies.

2. Embed a child-centred approach in all government agencies involved in pandemic/emergency responses so they are prepared for the next crisis. The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a practical framework and tools to guide any pandemic or emergency response so it is fit for children.

3. Ensure that tamariki Māori and their whānau are prioritised in terms of meeting Te Tiriti articles obligations that considers the rights, interests, wellness needs of tamariki.

4. A child wellbeing lead should be appointed as part of any All-of-Government response, and each agency involved in the response should have a designated children’s lead to ensure children’s rights, needs and interests are considered in decision making processes.

5. Eliminate baseline socio-economic inequities during childhood and uphold children’s rights so the nation can be better prepared for the next pandemic/emergency.

6. Support more research and data on the effects on children and youth, including for tamariki Māori; Pasifika children; infants/children under 5 years of age; children/whānau with disabilities/mental illness; children impacted by poverty, housing insecurity or family violence; and children in the state care and youth justice systems.