Maori women's organisation well placed to help

Maori Women's Welfare League president Prue Kapua says Maori women must play a major role in helping Maori children and families. Photo / File

The Maori Women's Welfare League president says Maori women must play a central role in helping address the significant needs of Maori children and their families.

"We are the largest Maori women's organisation in New Zealand and our story is cemented in the history of this nation. We are proud to carry on the legacy and the mahi of wahine Maori," Ngati Whakaue woman Prue Kapua said.

"Any solution for Maori families and children must include Maori women at its centre. The league has always reached into our communities in a way that departments and other organisations can never do.

"We know our communities, we live in our communities and have worked for and with our people for 64 years: this is our strength and is what sets us apart."

This year marked 64 years since the league's first national conference was held in 1951.

This year's national conference was held at the ASB Leisure Centre, Whangarei two weeks ago. This year the Report by the Children's Commissioner and the CYF expert panel report confirmed the numbers of Maori children in state care and the effects that has.

"Of the 5000 children in state care, almost 3000 are mokopuna Maori. It is time now for the Government to listen to the solutions we can offer as League women involved in our communities and passionate about better outcomes for our whanau," she said.