What children still need after 100 years of rights

It was 100 years ago when the Assembly of the League of Nations - the forerunner to the United Nations - adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child - the founding document of child rights.

It was written by Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb, who was outraged at the suffering of children during the First World War.

It was adopted on 26 September 1924, after Jebb presented the Declaration of the Rights of the Child at the League of Nations convention in Geneva.

"The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered," she said.

Now called the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is one of the world's most widely accepted treaties, having been ratified by 195 countries, including New Zealand in 1993.

At an event at Parliament, hosted by Save the Children New Zealand and Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March, Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said times had changed, but the needs of children had not.

"Life for children in Aotearoa New Zealand was obviously very different 100 years ago and today the children and young people of our country are facing fundamentally different challenges in their lives. They have different dreams and aspirations and we really need to be listening to what it is that they're saying we need to be doing to help uphold their rights."

And after 100 years, children are still facing some big problems.

"Climate change, poverty, gender-based violence, mental health," said Jemima, the ambassador for Save the Children New Zealand's new youth programme, Generation Hope NZ.

"This is how we live, this is our reality and all of these things are impacting it so we need to protect it."

And from the perspective of Save the Children New Zealand chief executive Heidi Coetzee: "Today, children's rights are being eroded and neglected. Inequality is growing. The war and violence around us, it's against children, it's escalating and it's undoing years of progress."

"In every country, in every culture across the world, children are experiencing violence. And the consequences can be passed down from generation to generation.

"Our children are suffering the devastating effects of the climate crisis. And despite being the least responsible for it, they carry the damage on them."

Save the Children New Zealand child rights and advocacy director Jacqui Southey said children were very aware of the challenges they face.

"We're seeing more children understand about their rights and the importance of not just for themselves, but for their peers and for each other," she said.

"And we've really seen that in some of the discussions around child poverty, and children telling us that they understand that some of their friends don't have what they have, or they themselves don't have enough of what they need. And so they really are understanding that children's rights aren't about being spoiled or entitled or luxuries. They're about the basics of everyday life.

"And the more that we know about that, the more that we can normalise it and empower children and their rights throughout Aotearoa."

The latest Statistics New Zealand data showed 12.5 percent of children - around 144,000 - were living in poverty.

The Green Party spokesperson for poverty reduction Ricardo Menéndez March said the government must do better.

"I think it is really important that people in Parliament uphold the rights of children, and that we remind ourselves that things like child poverty are political choices, that it is up to us to change the made-up rules that have enabled so many children to live in poverty, to live in hardship and to experience violence," he said.

Dr Achmad agreed, "Far too many children are living in poverty and experiencing inequities and that's especially for our mokopuna Maori, our Pacific children and our children with disabilities."

Officials had advised the government that $3 billion a year was needed to reach the country's child poverty reduction target.

But Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston said the government was taking a different approach to the previous Labour government.

"Our government's focus is on material hardship, and the budget that we delivered earlier this year will see us lifting 17,000 more children out of material hardship," she said.

She told RNZ the government was focused on growing the economy, improving health and education outcomes, and getting more households into work instead.