Kids summit on recession

Children's advocacy groups will stage a "summit" at a Mangere marae next month about the recession's impact on children.

Organiser Deborah Morris-Travers of the umbrella group Every Child Counts said the Government had held summits on jobs and on crime, but the effects of the recession on children had been neglected.

"We know that during the recession, with rising unemployment and rising costs generally, children are likely to be suffering," the former minister of youth affairs said.

"So we need to ensure that there is a community and political focus on children."

Every Child Counts was formed before the 2005 election by Barnardos, Plunket, Save the Children, Unicef and the Institute of Public Policy at the Auckland University of Technology.

The coalition has invited 150 community leaders to draw up a plan of action for children.

Workshops will be held on children's first five years, health and food security, education, housing, family violence, justice and social exclusion, and Maori. Prime Minister John Key has been invited to receive the plan at the end of the day.

Ms Morris-Travers said she hoped the summit would also be attended by young people who contributed to a report on child poverty published jointly last year by Barnardos and former Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro.