Election 2026: Make your vote count for children
The 2026 election for Aotearoa takes place 7th November.
Make your vote count for children. We've put together a toolkit to help you think about how your vote can help children thrive.
Right now, many children across the motu don’t have what they need to thrive. Children have a right to live free from harm, go to school, see a doctor, play, live in a warm house, eat healthy food, and not worry about their future.
What is the UNICEF Aotearoa election toolkit?
The toolkit helps you think about how you can vote with children in mind. It will help you have conversations with the people you care about to encourage them to do the same. It’s important that our leaders listen to children and young people, and put their rights front and centre as they form a government this November.
This toolkit explores four pressing issues facing tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa. It gives you what you need to dive into the research, what children are saying, what can be done about it, and how to start chatting with friends and family about the issues you care about.
The issues the toolkit focuses on are:
- Keeping children and young people safe online
- Making sure children have their basic needs met
- Ending violence against children
- Building child-focused climate-resilient communities
Keeping children and young people safe online
Every child has a right to be safe, including in the online world
Making sure children have their basic needs met
Every child has the right to access their basic needs including food, safe housing, healthcare, education and transport.
Ending violence against children
Every child has the right to feel safe, loved and protected from harm.
Building child-focused climate-resilient communities
Climate change is a direct threat to a child’s right to survive, grow, and thrive.
Other resources for election 2026
- Have you enrolled to vote? Make sure your vote counts, enrolments close 25 October 2026. Enrol now.
- Check out On a Roll for youth-led events, enrolment drives, and community activations. On a roll.
- Learn more about what different parties have said they will do for children on Ticks for Kids score cards.
- Watch the VOYCE Whakarongo Mai youth led political hot seat on 19th October 2026. Save the date for the live stream.
- Watch the Youth Debate on the 20th October 2026. Register for free.