ChildFund, NZ govt target Pacific youth well-being

The charity ChildFund has gone into partnership with the New Zealand government to improve well-being in the Asia Pacific region.

The $US7.3 million 'Impact programme,' to which New Zealand's foreign ministry will contribute about $US5.6 million, targets children, youth and their families in

Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Solomon Islands over the next five years.

ChildFund New Zealand's chief executive Paul Brown said he was "very pleased" 18 months spent developing a proposal for the ministry's "negotiated partnership scheme" had come to fruition.

"Now we are at a point where we can celebrate and say, 'yes, we've secured the partnership and we can get on with the work'.

"A child thrives when a whole series of conditions are met. They have a good start life, they have a loving family, they're well fed, nourished, they've got access to clean water and sanitation, they're getting age appropriate education, they're protected and safe, they have a positive outlook on life, and a good sense of well being. Vulnerability comes in when one of those things isn't being met."