Aotearoa New Zealand has a key role in its official development assistance to address the issue of sea-level rise and the risk to Pacific livelihoods, as well as playing our part in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Commission has previously highlighted challenges that Aotearoa New Zealand faces in its role supporting development and rights in the Pacific. In its submission for the Universal Periodic Review of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2018, the Commission recommended that the Government continues its annual increases to development funding to meet the international standard of 0.7 percent of Gross National Income. Prior to the 2018 review, Aotearoa New Zealand had agreed to increase its official development assistance to the internationally agreed level of 0.7 percent of Gross National Income. In 2017, assistance was worth 0.23 percent, which rose to 0.28 percent in 201941 and in 2021 it is likely to rise to 0.33 percent.42 The Rights of Children and Young People Pacific cultures have traditionally prized children as the continuation of cultural knowledge and tradition, and as holders of imagination and creativity. Families will often cite their children as the motivation or purpose of inter and intra-family relationship maintenance. Many families attempt to balance the inherent celebration of purpose, imagination and creativity in Pacific worldviews against existing church teachings which traditionally positioned children as subservient. More recently, Pacific churches have worked to emphasise healthy relationships between elders and children. Views of Pacific children and young people The Office of the Children’s Commissioner and Oranga Tamariki engaged with children and young people in their landmark report released in 2019, What Makes a Good Life?. As part of this engagement, children and young people were invited to talk about what is important and what is challenging in in their lives, how they envisage a good life for themselves and their families, and about the barriers they face 41 42 43 which can prevent them from truly experiencing a good life. Information from the survey and interviews has been provided to the Commission and informs this section.43 When talking in interviews and focus groups about what makes a good life, key messages that emerged for Pacific children and young people were about culture, family and education. Pacific children and young people raised the importance of family connection as a key theme in their answer to the question “what makes a good life?” They often saw themselves within the context of their families. Many talked about how their family supported them and how important family is to them. Pacific children and young people explained that their families need to be well for them to be well, and families needed to be involved in making things better. Pacific children and young people identified the cost of living and financial responsibilities in their household as a barrier to having a good life. For Pacific children and young people, it was clear that the removal of financial stresses, which impact on housing, transport and education, would make for a better life for them and their family. Some children and young people also identified racism as a barrier to having a good life, with some sharing their own experiences and how it adversely affects their wellbeing. Many children and young people who identified as Pacific also talked about the importance of culture in the context of family, wider community and religion. Of the children and young people who were asked how strongly they agreed with the statement ‘I am proud of my culture’, those from Pacific backgrounds were more likely to have answered ‘strongly agree’ as compared to the overall survey response. Many identified their religion as important to them, with attending church as contributing to the feeling of community and in turn, important to making a good life. Many also identified the importance of being able to speak the language of their traditional homelands as part of their culture and their feelings of connection. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/our-approach-to-aid/where-our-funding-goes/. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/aid-spending-boost-budget-2020. Among the 6000 people that took part, in surveys, interviews and focus groups for What Makes a Good Life? 956 were Pacific. There were 63 face to face participants and 893 online survey respondents. 17