UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at heart of Children’s Commissioner Claire Achmad’s visit to Gisborne’s Kaiti School

Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad (right) takes a selfie at Kaiti School on World Children's Day. Achmad told the students all children had rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

All children have rights.

Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad passed that key message on to the tamariki (children) of Kaiti School when she visited on World Children’s Day.

The day marked the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

Achmad told the Gisborne Herald that after a “beautiful” pōwhiri (welcome), she addressed the entire Kaiti School roll of about 400 students and informed them they had rights.

Each student was given a child-friendly copy of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

She later met 100 Year 4 to Year 7 students, who, in a practical exercise, rotated among four UN Rights of the Child activity stations.

Kaiti School students welcome Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad to the school with a pōwhiri she described as beautiful.

The rights the students engaged with through discussion and related activities were:

• the right to participate.
• the right to education.
• the right to your culture, language and religion.
• the right to play.

“They were so excited to learn they had children’s rights and they were right-holders.”

Achmad said she spoke directly to many of the students, who expressed how important te reo Māori, culture and the environment was to them.

Others said it was important to be safe.

“My very clear message to tamariki is they have rights. This day is all about them. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we need to do more to make sure they have their views and ideas heard when decisions are made which effect their lives.”

Achmad said the tamariki at Kaiti were excited to learn more about her and her role.

She wanted all children to know that her role existed.

Achmad is in her second year in the role and will finish next year.

She has spent the majority of her time travelling around the country visiting schools, ranging from large urban ones to one with a roll of just 40 to kura kaupapa.

She said she loved meeting the tamariki of the nation and learning what was important to them.

That also allowed her to find out about “the tough things in their lives”, which she could share as “a champion” while meeting parliamentarians, ministers and other decision-makers.

It was important as the Children’s Commissioner to share those realities and knowledge with decision-makers, she said.

Asked about issues such as violence and poverty, Achmad said she spent the majority of her focus advocating for change “on those systemic issues”.

“If we see positive progress, we’re going to have the biggest impact for the most tamariki.”

Three of her key priority areas were advocating to prevent child maltreatment; to see an end to child and family poverty; and to have “all children and young people growing up thriving in terms of their health and wellbeing, including their mental health”.

Achmad said there were multiple sides to her role – from joyful events to “the darkest and most devasting things happening” to children.

But her visit to Kaiti School was about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was guaranteed to “all children, in all circumstances, at all times”.