What youngsters are asking for on World Children's Day

World Children's Day was commemorated across the motu on Wednesday, 35 years after the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations on 20 November 1989.

While New Zealand author Avril McDonald was teaching 2- to 5-year-olds about their right to have a voice, inside the Grand Hall at Parliament, where the UNICEF Aotearoa World Children's Day Parliamentary Forum for Children's Rights was being held, there was just one thing children were asking for: To have their voices heard.

Read more:

• What children still need after 100 years of rights
• New children's book aims to break culture of silence that surrounds abuse

At a Wellington kindergarten, McDonald read her latest book, The Wolf and the Hocus Pocus, which aims to break the culture of silence that traditionally surrounds sexual and other forms of abuse in New Zealand. The book delivers children a vital message: to seek out a trusted adult until they find one who believes them and will act on their behalf to help keep them safe and secure.

"That book was designed to empower brave voices," McDonald said. "Save the Children invited me to this event to celebrate Children's Day because it's just a really relevant book about giving children a voice.

"It was a really nice opportunity to use the book to remind both children and adults about the importance of the fact that children have a voice, and they should always feel heard and seen, and be both physically and emotionally safe."

McDonald is the author of the Feel Brave series of books, which are little stories about big feelings for four- to seven-year-olds, as well as the founder of Feel Brave, which aims to give all children access to tools that help them manage tough emotions and reach their creative potential. Each book tells a story about a real-life situation that children may face while offering a simple strategy to cope.

Following Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, McDonald is planning to write her next book on intergenerational healing.

"We should be leading and innovating for the world in the way that we can heal from our colonisation trauma, and show the world how to move forward with that, but also the importance of our voice and having our say and letting people have their say, especially children."

Save the Children New Zealand advocacy, strategy, and research director Jacqui Southey said celebrating World Children's Day with preschool children highlighted the importance of rights for all children.

"Too often adults think children's rights are for older children, instead of recognising they apply from birth," she said.

"We were proud to partner with author Avril McDonald to teach children about their right to a voice on issues that matter to them and the responsibility of adults to listen to children and act to support them when they ask for help."

Back at the Beehive, the Parliamentary Forum for Children's Rights was co-hosted by Labour MP Camilla Belich and National MP Greg Fleming, with the premise: "Like question time, but with young people doing the asking," directed towards Children's Minister Karen Chhour, Labour's children's spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime, and Green Party's children's spokesperson Kahurangi Carter.

All pātai reflected a shared sense of being ignored by the decision-makers, particularly following Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, where more than 42,000 people gathered outside the same Parliament grounds to protest the Treaty Principles Bill on Tuesday.

Thirteen-year-old Elliot believed more than 10,000 children were present.

"Kids have a voice, and kids can be powerful," he said.

UNICEF Aotearoa young ambassador Tom Tito-Green felt the Bill was one of the biggest concerns for rangatahi Māori.

"This past week we've had an outpouring of support, unity, and love for our Māori community who are protesting against the Te Tiriti Principles Bill, which UNICEF Aotearoa fully supports this cause of action.

"To the decision-makers in the room, yes, you may roll your eyes at me, but don't roll your eyes to all the rangatahi who have descended here onto Parliament yesterday and today.

"As Dame Whina Cooper once said, take care of our children, take care of what they see, take care of what they hear, for how the children grow so will the shape of Aotearoa."

Thirteen-year-old Sienna told RNZ she wished the government would "listen to us more."

"They're like, 'They're the kids, they'll grow up and we'll talk to them when they're older.' Like, listen to us now, please and thank you," she said.

"We have a voice, let us be heard."

A panel made up of Mental Health Matters Initiative Trust executive director Amy Skipper, I.Lead mentor and National Disabled Students Association co-president Sean Prenter, as well as UNICEF Aotearoa young ambassadors Olivia Berra, Ella McDowall, Ronan Payinda and Luca Zampese agreed.

"Stop yapping about us, and actually talk to us," Skipper said. "All respect to decision-makers, you've got experience, but chances are you don't know what it's like to be a young person here and now."