The Government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy (strategy-on-a-page-child-youth-wellbeing-Sept-2019.pdf (childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz) was released in 2019 and was intended to chart a course to eliminate child poverty and improve child and youth wellbeing outcomes in New Zealand. The government has undertaken its first 3-yearly review of the strategy, the findings of which were recently released. The WWP was fortunate to be part of the review process through our valued partnership with The Southern Initiative (TSI).  The review’s fundings included:

• The core goals of the strategy remain relevant, however there is considerable scope to support implementation more effectively
• Central government must shift how it works with iwi/Māori and communities at different levels. This will require a shift from consultation/collaboration to partnering and empowering- i.e., a whanau-centred, community-led and centrally enabled approach, through enduring mechanisms
• The 5 key changes agreed to by the government are:
• Regarding ownership of the strategy- increasing the representation of Iwi/Māori, Pacific and young people and focusing more on whanau-centred, community-led approaches and developing a learning system that includes diverse voices and perspectives
• Ensuring the governance approach is driving and supporting implementation via greater coordination and alignment between communities and agencies, shifting the focus of governance away from central government and towards whanau, communities and young people
• Prioritising actions and area of work that:
• Have the potential to make the biggest impacts on wellbeing
• Help address significant disparities experienced by priority populations
• Require agencies to work together to make progress
• Are not better addressed through established workstreams
• Ensuring that monitoring, measurement and reporting is efficient and effective; and
• Enhancing Te Ao Māori concepts of wellbeing in the implementation of the strategy

Many of these findings align very strongly with our own case for change, and we will continue to partner with the government and other leadership organisations on how these can be fully implemented.