Children's Convention Monitoring Group (CMG)
The CMG was formed in February 2011 to monitor the New Zealand Government’s response to the 2011 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on New Zealand. The CMG is convened by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC), and consists of representatives from:
- the Human Rights Commission (HRC)
- Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa (ACYA)
- Save the Children New Zealand
- UNICEF New Zealand.
The CMG meets at least quarterly to monitor the progress made on implementing UNCROC in New Zealand. They also meet at least twice a year with a cross-sector group of Children's Convention Deputy Chief Executives to discuss their findings and provide regular reports.
Children's Convention Deputy Chief Executives (DCEs)
The Children's Convention DCEs group helps to ensure that the individual work programmes in each agency contribute to the implementation of the Convention, and provide high-level coordination and implementation of UNCROC throughout New Zealand.
The Children's Convention DCEs and the CMG meet at least twice a year to support the Children's Convention DCEs to fulfil the Government’s obligations in implementing the Convention, and to inform the CMG’s monitoring.
The Children's Convention DCEs group consists of DCEs from the following government agencies:
- Ministry of Social Development (Chair)
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
- Ministry of Justice
- New Zealand Police
- Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children
- Statistics NZ
- Ministry for Pacific Peoples
- Te Puni Kōkiri
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Terms of Engagement
The joint terms of engagement stipulates the Children's Convention DCEs’ and the CMG's common goal of improving lives and upholding the rights of children in New Zealand and reinforces the principles that underpin their engagement, including;
- best interests of the child
- partnership
- good faith
- no surprises
- openness
- confidentiality.
