Our Background

Greetings / He Mihi

E ngā mana, e ngā ihi, e ngā wehi, koutou katoa te rangatira e awhi ana, e hapaitia ana ki ngā Ririki i ngā whānau, i ngā hapori puta noa i Aotearoa, tēnei te mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.

Karakia whakatuwhera mō ngā mātua me ā rātou Ririki / A Prayer

E te Atua, mā te tauira o ngā mātua ka mārama ai te tamaiti he aha te aroha; meinga mātou kia tika, kia tū ai mātou hei tūrangawaewae mō te tapu me te mana o ā mātou Ririki. Mauri ora e te Atua. Āmine.

God, a child learns to love because someone loves them first; make us worthy of this trust that we may be a place of safety and belonging, to nurture the sanctity and power of our children. Amen.

He Whakamoemiti / A Tribute 

He mihi aroha tēnei ki a matua Hone Kaa, nāna i whakatō i te kākano kua puāwaitia nei i roto i ngā mahi o te Mana Ririki me ngā whakaakoranga i roto i tēnei rauika.

Nāna anō te pepeha e mau nei i te ia o ngā mahi o te Mana Ririki: “E tipu, e ora, e hua.”

We acknowledge the late Venerable Dr Hone Kaa whose thinking and efforts lay behind much of the work of Mana Ririki and the teachings in this resource.

His pepeha embraces our organisation: “E tipu, e ora, e hua” – “Grow, be healthy, be productive.”

Nā reira, e te Pāpā, ko te puāwai ka rere, ko te kakara ka mau tonu. Moe mārie mai.

Our Beginnings / Tō Matau Hītori

Mana Ririki was established in 2008, as an outcome of the Maori Child Abuse Summit held in November 2007. At the time Maori child abuse was being debated publicly following a number of events preceding the Summit:

The death of toddler Nia Glassie – which focused New Zealand’s attention on Maori child abuse, and the terrible things that can happen to our children;

The repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act where parents and caregivers had their right to use parental force to discipline their children removed.

Around 100 Maori providers and workers attended the summit with the aim of providing a Maori-led response to Maori child abuse. Participants contributed to the development of a plan to eliminate Maori child abuse incorporating:

• The establishment of a National Maori child advocacy body;
• A communications campaign to include: a new brand; television and radio advertising; web and e-communications;
• Training and resources for the sector and Maori whanau.

Te Kāhui Mana Ririki is the result.

Successes / Ngā Whāinga

From inception Mana Ririki has focused on a multi-layered campaign to end Maori child abuse, with facets which include education for whānau, advocacy and research.

We have developed a successful parenting programme which teaches non-violent parenting, and trained a network of providers in the model. The parenting model is based on research into traditional Maori parenting, and evaluations show that tikanga Maori as the core of the model is the main attraction for families.

Mana Ririki has become the voice for Maori children and young people with policy makers, social agencies, and the media. We were the Maori voice in the smacking referendum, the overall result being a legislative change to make smacking illegal. Recent achievements include;

• Being the Maori voice in the public debate about child poverty
• Successfully advocating for the Maori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Social Determinants of Wellbeing for Maori Children
• The Aotearoa Reggae Allstars project; mainstream media promotion powered by the ARAs initiative (a single recorded by Illegal Musik by a collaboration of NZ reggae artists with all proceeds going to Mana Ririki). Coverage on primetime television and social media promoting positive role models associated with Mana Ririki speaking out against child maltreatment.
• Maintaining a high media profile and speaking out about issues impacting young Maori on mainstream media.

Nga Kaihautū

Anton Blank was the founding Executive Director from 2008-2014. Anton ensured Te Kāhui Mana Ririki was the pre-eminent advocacy voice in the sector.

Dr Hirini Kaa was Executive Director from 2014-2015. Dr Kaa established Tikanga Ririki as the focus of Te Kāhui Mana Ririki, and left the role to take up a lectureship at the University of Auckland.