Every child in Aotearoa New Zealand has a unique potential to dream, learn and thrive. We work to realise that potential.
We work with and for children, ensuring their voices are heard at the highest level, to advocate for change to improve child wellbeing and realise children's rights.
Advocacy
Advocating for child rights isn’t just about stopping harmful policies—it’s also about ensuring young people’s voices are heard. We bring years of international experience and good practice from around the world and call for government policies to ensure children are safe, supported and included in all areas of their lives, with a particular focus on children’s rights and investing in the early years of a child’s life.
Our advocacy is centred around children’s voices – gathering insights from tamariki and rangatahi across the motu on what matters most to them. We work to amplify these voices and experiences to help realise children’s rights to be heard on decisions that impact them. The more we listen to young people, the better we can advocate for policies that truly meet their needs.
We partner with like-minded organisations across the private and public sector to share knowledge and expertise to achieve stronger outcomes for children. Together, we will work to ensure every child in Aotearoa New Zealand will have their rights realised to live healthy, happy lives, to learn, and reach their potential.
Capturing children casting their symbolic votes during the elections
Education Hub
Children who know about child rights are far more likely to speak up on behalf of themselves and others if their rights are breached.
Our New Zealand education programme aims to support teachers, parents, whānau and children to learn more about their rights through fun, interactive, cross-curricular resources. Our online hub is a well-used resource home to hundreds of resources categorised into key themes including climate and global issues, inclusion, children's rights, wellbeing and mindfulness.
Our Children’s Rights Flyer is one of the most popular resources from our education programme. It summarises the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in child-friendly language, helping tamariki learn about their rights, and encourages them speak up when their rights, or the rights of others, are not being respected.
Designed as both a learning tool and a reference resource, the flyer is used in classrooms across the country as a reading text, writing prompt, display, and home resource. It is now available in seven languages - English, Te Reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Spanish, Arabic, and Kinyarwanda - with more translations being added to better serve refugee-background children.
Rangatahi join a COP29 simulation, sharing insights that helped shape New Zealand’s statement for the UN climate talks in Baku.
Generation Hope
Our Generation Hope New Zealand Youth Ambassador programme supports rangatahi to become powerful advocates on the issues that matter most to them.
Each year, we welcome a new cohort of inspiring rangatahi into our Generation Hope Youth Rōpū - a collective of passionate youth advocates ready to stand up, speak out, and take action on issues from climate change to mental health.
Our ambassadors come from across Aotearoa, bringing their lived experiences, cultural strengths, and bold ideas to create a better future for all children.
Throughout the year, ambassadors take part in panels, webinars, workshops, and meetings with Members of Parliament – speaking out on the issues that matter most to children. Their passion, insight, and courage is an inspiration to us, their peers, and leaders and supporters across the country.
Children’s voices
We believe in the power of children’s voices to bring about positive and lasting change.
Children have the right to be heard - especially when the decisions being made will directly affect their lives. But too often, their perspectives are left out of policy discussions. That’s why Save the Children New Zealand is committed to amplifying children’s voices and supporting them to understand, use, and advocate for their rights.
Our Children’s Voices initiative creates opportunities for tamariki to speak out on real issues in real time - from changes to the Ka Ora Ka Ako, Healthy School Lunches programme to mobile phone bans in schools and online safety. With in-person voting booths, school-based surveys and online tools, we’ve reached thousands of children with safe, accessible ways to share their views.
Generation Hope ambassadors
Working Together
Change is only possible when we bring different parts of society together.
We work in coalitions that span communities, other not-for-profit organisations, businesses and government.
Some of the coalitions and partners we work with include:
- Children's Rights Alliance Aotearoa – individuals and non-government organisations committed to making children’s rights real in the daily lives of children here in Aotearoa.
- Fairer Futures Coalition – working to support liveable incomes for all.
- Tick for Kids - a movement designed to engage candidates every national election in public discussion about what needs to be done to improve life for children and young people in Aotearoa.
- Youth Climate Collective – a youth-led non-profit organisation driven by the urgent reality of climate change.
- Create Happy Media – Aotearoa New Zealand’s major youth-led media outlet, who we work with to amplify the voices of rangatahi.
- Life Education Trust - provides education to support the health and wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi, delivered through interactive learning experiences.
- Education, Partnership and Innovation Trust (EPIT) - Provides a platform for project creators and funders to partner and make a positive impact in New Zealand education.
- Netsafe - Supports people across New Zealand to have safe and positive online experiences, by providing free support, advice and education to all ages.
