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Kia ora - Talofa lava - Kia orana - Malo e lelei - Fakalofa lahi atu - Taloha ni - Bula vinaka - Ni Hao - Namaste - Greetings
ACYA is a coalition of non-governmental organizations, families and individuals whose purpose is to promote the well-being of children and young people in Aotearoa New Zealand through:
- education and advocacy on the rights of children and young people,
- encouraging the Government to act on the recommendations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The text for the Convention can be found at http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm
QUESTIONS (3)
GENERAL PRNCIPLES
PART A
INTRODUCTION
During August the Ministry of Youth Development will be asking people for comments on the draft report the Government is to send to the United Nations in November 2008.
Progress made by New Zealand in responding to each of the Committee’s recommendations will be carefully studied.
We are also progressively posing questions under each of the eight headings used by the UN Committee in 2003 to review the Government’s response to its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child
PART A Discrimination, Voice of children, Articles 2 &12
PART B Best Interests & Right to Life, Articles 3 & 6
DISCRIMINATION
Article 2 seeks to remove discrimination of the child or parents or care givers. It lists 12 areas of potential discrimination including race, colour, sex, language, religion, disability, political, national ethnic or social origins but this list is not exclusive and covers discrimination of any kind and this must include discrimination on the grounds of age (youthfulness). The UN Committee raised in 2003 with the Government two issues:
a) to ensure existing legislation is not discriminatory
b) that in practice there is no discrimination.
Discrimination can be active (stopping young people wearing “hoodies” from coming into shops) or passive (accepting ethnic groups to be socially disadvantaged) or structural (through defective legislation or government policies and priorities).
Discrimination in the provision of health, education and social services and assistance will be looked at under future Questions 6 & 7 in this series.
Q 3 a (i) Does New Zealand have discriminatory legislation?
Q 3 a (ii) Is there evidence of children suffering discrimination?
Q 3 a (iii) Are there situations where children are discriminated against on the grounds of their young age?
Racial intolerance
The UN Committee asked Government for a specific response to the 2001 World Conference against Racism.
Q 3 b (i) Are there situations where racial discrimination is an issue for children in New Zealand?
Q 3 b (ii) What progress is being made in reducing the inequities between ethnic groups of children and families?
Religious intolerance
NZ society has religious diversity but sometimes religious intolerance or disrespect is manifest.
Q3 c Does religious discrimination affect children in NZ?
VOICE OF CHILDREN
Article 12 gives the right of children to be heard, their views being given weight in accordance with their age and maturity, including in judicial and administrative proceedings. The Care of Children Act and Evidence Act have successfully applied this concept.
TV 1’s Fair Go programme has demonstrated two recent incidents. In the first a 12 year old disclosed she had been working for 50c an hour in delivery work. In the second case a 9 year old complained that while waiting to play netball in Christchurch in winter the dress code was harmful. Both got a good hearing.
The voice of the child needs to be heard in many situations including:
Adoptions
Family law and policies (including family violence)
Child protection laws (including Family Group conferences),
Education (including early childhood education),
Medical care and entitlements,
Disability (whether physical, intellectual, mental or social),
Immigration issues,
Birth registration and name change,
Witnesses and victims,
Institutional care,
Local issues including transport, leisure facilities,
Employment (including work as contractors), and
Social issues
Complaint procedures need to be accessible, child friendly and effective.
Q3 d (i) What legislation, official policies and practices need to be changed to give full effect to the voice of children?
Q3 d (ii) Are complaints procedures child friendly and accessible and do they give fair treatment?
Q3 d (iii) Are there examples of the Government having consulted appropriately with children on relevant legislation and policy?
Q3 d (iv) Should the Local Government Act be amended to give recognition to child and youth advocates in local authorities and recognition of the Convention?
The Convention
A simplified version: http://www.acya.org.nz/?t=92
The full text: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm
The UN committee responses in 2003 to the previous Government report
A simplified version: http://www.acya.org.nz/?t=89
The full text:
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.15.Add.216.En?Opendocument
If you want to register an interest in seeing the draft report contact MYD by email: mydinfo@myd.govt.nz
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