NZ rates ‘very bad’ on human rights to food and work

Ratings by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) released last week showed New Zealand’s scores for ensuring people’s right to food and right to work had deteriorated. The HRMI calculates the economic and social rights in 203 countries.

HRMI co-executive director Thalia Kehoe Rowden said the results were concerning. The data showed successive governments failed to prioritise basic human rights in their spending, Ms Kehoe Rowden said.

“It is particularly concerning that poverty is such a big factor in whether someone would have a good life in Aotearoa,” she said.

“All people deserve to have the basics, and the Government has international obligations to make sure no one is missing out.”

Tric Malcolm, pou ārahi (executive officer) of Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, said the data was unsurprising and consistent with what it sees in communities.

Organisations were distributing food at a rate two or three times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand normally peaks at Christmas and in winter, but there had been no drop in between.

“We know that this country has enough kai to feed everybody well. It’s more an issue of how we choose to distribute and put cost on that kai,” Ms Malcolm said.

Food insecurity intersected with other issues including employment, right to income and housing, and it was no surprise food insecurity went hand in hand with scoring “very bad” in terms of right to work.

For those in a low socio-economic bracket, food insecurity was a constant reality rather than a “sometimes event”, she said.

“A lot of our organisations will talk about who is consistently food insecure, but also who is finding themselves food insecure in a way they never did before.”

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Human rights ranking shows NZ worsening on food and work (By Hannah McCallum/ The Post – subscription required)