Let’s integrate children and youth perspective in our work!

On the occasion of International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on June 1 for the 95th time, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Lithuania wants to introduce the publication “When involving children and young people in the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Principles and approaches” to our partners. This document sets out general requirements and guidelines for the integration of children’s rights and youth perspectives into the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

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We hope that the publication will become a source of inspiration for you and your organisations that actively cooperate with Nordic stakeholders and institutions to benefit the welfare of children and young people. 

“I am very proud to be part of this organisation and will do my best to work towards the implementation of these guidelines. Our most important objective is to establish and foster good conditions for all young people. Fundamental rights to good living conditions must be achievable by all children and young people, regardless of their gender, ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic background. We will keep focusing on children and young people in our daily work at the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania. For us this means working with the future”, said Helén Nilsson, Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Lithuania.

The well-being of children and young people, and their ability to exercise their rights, is a pre-requisite for the continued development of the Nordic region. The Council of Ministers will help to ensure that the Nordic region is a leader and pioneer in the work to create a society in which the rights and different perspectives of children and young people are respected and contribute to the development of society. The Nordic Council of Ministers will work from the perspective that all children and young people are important here and now, not just in the future. 

Children and young people are therefore priority target groups for the Nordic Council of Ministers, so the Council will integrate children’s rights and youth perspective in its work. 

The ambition for greater integration of a children’s rights and youth perspective also brings a responsibility to ensure that the work is based on a number of guiding principles. There must be a common minimum level of the involvement of children and young people and, above all, the work must be carried out in a way that protects and promotes children’s safety and security. This document is relevant for all situations in which children and young people are contacted or involved in the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers, for example on a panel (as a participant), in a focus group (expressing their own 4 5 opinions or representing the views of a group of children and young people), or featuring in the media. 

Nordic Council of Ministers has raised the issue of children and youth at the political level and already in 2016 has adopted the cross-sectoral strategy for children and young people in the Nordic Region. It is closely linked to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and has a unique status in Europe. It sets out concrete measures and creates favourable conditions for the Nordic governments to represent the interests of children and young people by allocating all necessary resources. This commitment also means that many of our organisation’s activities have been directed directly towards children’s wellbeing.