For the sake of our children

Welcome initiatives were a feature of a Herald audit in June of the paper's 1997 Our Children survey -- evidence that Government and independent agencies are translating awareness of the plight of too many youngsters into action. Unfortunately, the audit also confirmed that child abuse remains a blight on the country.

It showed that limited research means there are gaps in understanding the most effective ways to develop responses. In that context, the two-yearly conference of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect is an opportunity for experts from a wide range of backgrounds to share their experiences in dealing with abuse and neglect. Our geographic isolation means New Zealanders in the field can feel buried in a mire of depressing experiences, with few opportunities to venture offshore to discuss those cases. This is one of those rare occasions when the world comes to us.

While this is not a conference designed to solve our problems -- all delegates are seeking solutions to their own countries' malaise -- there is a well-founded expectation that we will draw from its global deliberations some creative local solutions. Perhaps a successful initiative targeting one ethnic minority will work with another, or a programme in Aberdeen will work in Auckland.

Neglect and abuse of children are complex social phenomena, subject to numerous influences and requiring multiple solutions. The congress has drawn together speakers with their sights set on remedies rather than a hand-wringing outpouring of woes. For all that, no one pretends one conference will rid the world of abuse and neglect. Yet, if the lot of even a handful of children improves, it will be time well spent.

Copyright © New Zealand Herald