Poor mark on child rights

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Maori and Pacific Island children are consistently discriminated against in New Zealand, says a report in an international Save the Children publication.

The report was released yesterday on the anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) by 189 countries. The convention was signed by New Zealand in 1993.

But Save the Children says New Zealand, along with many other countries, has not fully implemented it.

The executive director of Save the Children New Zealand, John Bowis, says New Zealand is not alone in discriminating against some of its children.

Twenty-six countries featured in the report - Children's Rights: Equal Rights? - revealed evidence of children being excluded through discrimination and denied equality of opportunity and the most basic rights,

In New Zealand's case, the discrimination was passive and was reflected in health and education statistics for the most disadvantaged groups, Mr Bowis told the Herald.

"It's not out in-your-face but nevertheless it's happening in front of us.

"All New Zealanders, if they ask themselves, would recognise that there is disparity between groups of children ... and that is in effect passive discrimination."

The report says the discrimination is illustrated by facts such as:

Maori infants have a mortality rate 150 per cent higher than that of the general population.

School exclusions (such as suspensions for behavioural problems) show a significant bias against Maori, who make up 29 per cent of the school population but constitute 40 to 46 per cent of students who are excluded.

Of Pacific Island children, 45 per cent are in the 10 per cent of households with the lowest income

Household income for Maori families is $10,000 a year less than for other families.

Mr Bowis said that at a time concern for children's issues and for their future had never been higher, it was a national embarrassment for New Zealand to be "dragging its heels" on a universally accepted convention.

The Government still had no plan of action to develop the principles of the convention, he said.

Save the Children wants the Government to incorporate the convention into statute law and wants better statistics to be gathered for measuring discrimination within New Zealand against that in other countries.

"I think it's very important to Save the Children that children have equal opportunity to live to a worthwhile adulthood," said Mr Bowis.

"If they are disadvantaged from a health or education point of view, then they are not going to get an equal opportunity."

Herald Online feature: Closing the Gaps