WelCom September 2022
Child Safeguarding Week, 4–10 September, is held annually in Aotearoa New Zealand to raise awareness of child abuse prevention wherever children are – at home, the community, places they go. Organised by Safeguarding Children – Tiakina ngā tamariki, the objective is to raise the profile of issues connected with child abuse prevention and child protection. This year Safeguarding Children are celebrating 11 years in existence, having trained over 33,000 of the workforce in child protection. Safeguarding Children has organised a petition to change the Children’s Act (2014) to ensure better protection for children. Go to childsafeguardingweek.org.nz for information.
‘Please consider signing the petition,’ says Catherine Jones smsm, Safeguarding Adviser, Archdiocese of Wellington. ‘It is endorsed by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, of which the Catholic Church is a member. Let us unite prayer and action for the safeguarding of our children and vulnerable adults.’