September 11, 2020
Five to Thrive sets challenge for government
A Māori child advocacy group wants government to take the lessons it learned from the Māori response to COVID 19 and use them in boosting the welfare of tamariki Māori.
Te Kāhui Mana Ririki has joined with Barnardos, Whānau Āwhina Plunket and Save the Children on Five to Thrive, a programme calling for support for the needs of tamariki to be put to the top of the election agenda.
Chief executive Dee Ann Wolferstan says it includes five areas of focus, including realising the potential of whānau Māori and reducing inequities; investing in children’s early years; housing; lifting children and their families out of poverty; and mental health support.
She says government needs to move from viewing Māori child poverty from a deficit lens to investing in changing the situation.
"As they did in COVID, they invested in iwi and Whānau Ora to do for our whānau and we did amazingly well. That is the type of thing we want to challenge them on," Ms Wolferstan says
A Five to Thrive website www.fivetothrive.nz has been set up to give voters more information about each issue and the reality facing Aotearoa's tamariki and their whānau.
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