Aotearoa Child Poverty

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Part One - Essay
There is a contemporary issue not meeting international/national obligations and aspirations of the young tamariki and it is child poverty. UNICEF, United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), and Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group (CCEAG) are groups who discuss child rights and poverty. This essay will discuss child poverty in Aotearoa and globally, how child rights are not being met due to poverty and why early childhood education (ECE) teachers should be advocating for children’s rights in relation to poverty.

The United Nations (UN) in 2013, carried out a survey with 97 UN Member States in Ministries of Education, Environment and Sustainable Development who identified poverty as the highest priority (Engdahl, 2015). In Aotearoa and beyond, child poverty is proven to have adverse effects on children’s learning and development, therefore denying tamariki their lawful and moral rights, obligations and potential (Smith, 2015). Multiple factors influence child poverty such as …show more content…

In relation to Article 3 and 6, poverty barricades these due to families not taking their tamariki to the doctors when unwell due to lack of income and cannot afford appointments, medicine and specialist services. Further, tamariki stay home from school because of not having the uniform or have lunch to take (UNICEF, 2014; CPAG, 2014). In addition, Articles 24 and 27 say tamariki have the right to a sufficient standard living regarding their physical and mental needs and have the right to good quality health care. Poverty denies this. Families do not have the means to be able to provide this when on such a low income and tamariki go without nutritious food, warm houses, extra-curricular activities such as sports, appropriate clothing and shoes resulting in lower quality life (UNICEF, 2014; CPAG,

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