A workshop for Pacific Island nations opened in Fiji this week, aimed at getting children involved in adapting to climate change. Pacific in Community Development Fiji and People’s of the South Pacific International have joined PLAN Australia to run the workshop. PLAN Australia’s disaster risk manager, Suresh Pokharel, says children were affected by climate change Read more
A study published recently shows that many children in Australia think that their parents work too hard. The Australian Institute of Family Studies points to a growing lack of balance between work and home. Parents’ concerns about work, and about bringing work-related stress into their families, were similar to their children’s concerns. Professor Alan Hayes, Read more
Children as young as five “with deep-set problems” are among more than 2000 Waikato students stood down from school last year for offences including sexual abuse, assault and drug use. Waikato Principals’ Association chair and Marian Catholic School principal John Coulam said primary school students were not immune from being stood down for serious offences. Read more
Many British children are “easily accessing online pornography” and are suffering as a result, a cross-party parliamentary inquiry has found. According to the inquiry, children’s attitudes to sex, relationships and body image are all being negatively affected by seeing internet pornography. Studies noted in the inquiry’s report suggested four out of five children aged 14-16 Read more
There has been trend of increasing incidence of children abandoned at SkyCity Auckland over the last three years: 19 in 2009, 46 in 2010 and 54 in 2011. These figures were provided to Fairfax Media by Internal Affairs under the Official Information Act. In the latest incident 5 children whose ages ranged from 5 months Read more
Children are being endangered by the speed of welfare reform – just as children are put at risk by excessive speed on our roads. In a written submission Caritas says the speed of consideration was unreasonable and unrealistic. Only 11 working days were provided between the first reading of the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Read more
Family First says the Government is undervaluing mothers by not allowing a bill, proposing to extend paid parental leave, to proceed to a first reading. In the week before Easter a member’s bill which aims to extend paid parental leave in New Zealand from 14 to 26 weeks came up in the ballot. It is being proposed by Labour’s Sue Read more
Over 14,000 thousand people, including 5,000 children, have been displaced from their homes by the Fiji floods. These families are sheltering in over 200 evacuation centres and many lack regular access to water, food and essential items. Water and electricity shortages across the Western Division are creating a potentially dangerous situation for thousands more. The Read more
The United Nations Children’s Fund says nutrition for children affected by the Fiji floods is a major concern. “It felt really heart wrenching to see families, and especially young children in the evacuation centers with nothing but the clothes on their back. Some lost everything while others saved what they could. It was really sad Read more