World Children’s Day: NZ must spend more on foreign aid that supports young people – World Vision

Denys Zaporozhchenko reunites with his children Dayana, Yana and Nikita in Kyiv, Ukraine. The world is currently experiencing the greatest number of simultaneous conflicts since World War II.

THREE KEY FACTS

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child gives children and young people up to the age of 18 the right to life, survival and development.
• Governments are tasked with ensuring the best interests of the child are taken into account when making decisions about the child.
• In NZ, a Child Impact Assessment (CIA) Tool has been developed to help Government and non-government organisations assess whether policy proposals will improve the wellbeing of children and young people.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child, signed in 1959, states: “Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.”

The language is outdated, but the message remains powerful. If we were writing it today, we’d simply say: “Every child is entitled to the best that humanity can offer.”

The declaration enshrined the right of every child to a name and a nationality. The right to free education. The right to adequate food. And it was to be the world’s responsibility – collectively – to protect all children from neglect, cruelty, and exploitation. It is this that we celebrate on World Children’s Day on the first Sunday in March.

But this Children’s Day needs to be about more than just celebration. It must be a day on which New Zealand recommits itself wholeheartedly to protecting children and defending their rights. Because 2024 was a horrific year for many of the world’s children.

Every child has the right to food. For years, the number of children born into hunger had been reducing. But in recent years the trend has reversed. Shockingly, 5% more children were born into hunger in 2024 than in the previous year – despite the fact the world produces more than enough food to ensure we are all well-fed.

Tragically, in many places where children suffer from severe food shortages – mostly due to conflict, droughts, heatwaves and rising costs – emergency help was desperately short. In Afghanistan, for example, emergency food aid rations were reduced for 90% of those desperately needing food last year due to funding shortages. In Syria, 80% fewer people received emergency food aid than the year before. Now that is even more under threat.

Every child has the right to education, but last year, 85 million children were unable to attend school. Why? Because their education was cut short by crisis.

Not only is the world experiencing the greatest number of conflicts since World War II, directly affecting one in six children globally, but there’s also a disturbing trend in which schools are being deliberately targeted in conflicts. And with 2024 officially the warmest year on record, heatwaves were a big climate disruptor of children’s education.

When we invest in children, we invest in a more stable, just and hopeful world.

When the world came together to sign the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, it recognised children are precious.

That no matter what is going wrong in the world, we share a responsibility to see that children are protected and able to get the best start in life possible.

Yet for many children, the last year brought nightmarish conditions, and after such a horrific year, I am asking – urging – New Zealand to wholeheartedly do our part for children.

I am hopeful we will, because I know New Zealanders care deeply about children who are hurting, both here and around the world. That’s why New Zealand always scores highly on the world generosity index, and that’s why a majority support New Zealand’s international aid programme, wanting us to do our bit.

So, what does doing our bit mean in 2025? There are two ways in which our Government can support the sort of childhood for others we would want for our own children and grandchildren.

First, we need to see a greater emphasis on foreign aid that supports children. World Vision’s research shows globally, only 5% of overseas development assistance goes to children. Yet this can be the most effective aid possible as it sets children up to be healthy, educated and strong contributors to their communities and the world.

And secondly, we need our international aid contribution to gradually increase. In 2025, we want to see that for every $100 New Zealand earns, we increase our investment to just 37 cents in overseas aid.

It’s still a small proportion – if gross national income were a pie, you couldn’t cut a slice this small – but it’s more than we give now, and it’s enough to extend food, water, education and protection to many more children.

We owe children humanity’s best. When we invest in children, we invest in a more stable, just and hopeful world. A world worth celebrating on Children’s Day.