The forum I attended was set up as a way to discuss the government’s role and progress in children and youth rights and to allow the opportunity for youth, government and NGO representatives to collaborate around these issues. This meeting was the first forum where youth, governmental and non-governmental agencies came together to discuss the rights of children outlined by UNCROC.

By Omar Hamed

As I walked up the tree lined driveway to school one morning I was confronted by an interesting juxtaposition. A large Document Destruction Service truck pulled up next to the schools offices. What was the DDS doing outside Senior Management’s offices? Were they getting rid of unfavourable Education Review Office reports or the expenses lists for the Principals recent excursion to Wellington? The answer will doubtless remain a mystery thanks to a tax-payer funded document destruction. The truck drove away and suddenly the ironic site of the DDS outside an education institution was gone.

By Samantha Davidson. Odd, but true: some New Zealand teenagers (or their parents) are forking over $160 for a single item of clothing, while not even being able to get enough together for school fees.

Did you know that almost one in every three young New Zealanders lives in poverty? Children and young people in New Zealand also have the fifth highest rate of death from maltreatment in the developed world and are more at risk from human rights abuses than any other group.