Having Faith in Children - Children's Rights and the Commissioner for Children

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen –

I'm delighted to be here this afternoon to speak to you about the work underway to put in place a Children's Commissioner for Northern Ireland. As you will be aware, on 29 January of this year the then First Minister and Deputy First Minister announced the intention of the Executive to appoint a Commissioner for Children as part of a wider children's strategy.

The establishment of a Commissioner for Children is one of the most important actions of the Assembly to date - it represents a significant milestone on the road from conflict to a shared society where the rights of all are guaranteed. It shows that we as politicians recognise that children and young people are important, and that childhood in itself is important.

We believe that Northern Ireland needs a Commissioner for Children; someone to act as a champion for all children and young people; a strong independent voice to speak up for their rights and needs. Children and young people need someone who can advise the authorities and challenge them when necessary – a watchdog and an engine for change; someone outside of government to assist in the joining up of policy across existing government departments and statutory agencies.

From the outset, we recognised that this is a task which we in Government cannot take forward alone. We need to work in partnership with key organisations, the voluntary sector and of course with children and young people themselves. We established an inter-departmental group comprising senior officials in all eleven of the Northern Ireland departments and the NIO and Court service. In April we set up an ad hoc Non Governmental Organisations' Forum to advise us and to share their expertise. The membership of the Forum was drawn from the core members of the ‘Putting Children's First' campaign which included the major children's organisations eg Barnardos, NSPCC, Children's Law Centre, as well as Disability Action, the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities and umbrella groups for the smaller children's organisations across the country.

The role of the Forum has been to represent the views of children's organisations throughout Northern Ireland, and provide a two-way conduit of information in relation to the development of proposals for the Children's Commissioner. It has also been an important source of advice on appropriate mechanisms for consulting with children and young people themselves.

Working in partnership with both the inter-departmental group and the NGO Forum, has enabled us to produce a consultation paper setting out proposals for the Commissioner for Children. The document was published in August and it is open for comment until the 8 November. It marked the culmination of six months information gathering, research and discussion with key organisations working in the field of children's rights.

As you will be aware, we are giving priority to the issue of the Commissioner for Children because we are committed to bringing legislation before the Assembly in the next session. However, we are also committed to the development of a comprehensive children's strategy and we intend to consult on this next year. The Children's strategy will be a long-term strategy and it will be a mammoth task to complete and again we will be calling on the expertise of children's organisation throughout Northern Ireland to help us.

We acknowledge that the expertise required to advise on the issue of a Commissioner and that required to advise us on the strategy is different, so I would like to take this opportunity to announce that we are going to review the composition of the Non Governmental Organisation Forum.

Dermot and I would both like to pay tribute to the work already carried out by the NGO Forum. Particularly noteworthy has been their enthusiasm and diligence on the work surrounding the consultation paper on a Commissioner for Children. It is a mark of the professionalism of that group, that the impetus behind this review of the composition of the Forum's membership has come from the Forum itself, because they want to ensure that they are in a position to give us the very best help and advice. They have recognised that when considering the Children's Strategy, we are looking at the much wider picture of children's services. And we need to draw on the expertise of a wider group of children's professionals to help us develop a leading-edge strategy for the Children of Northern Ireland.

I want to emphasise that the revised Forum will still be an ad hoc temporary group whose remit will be to advise the Executive on proposals for a Children's Strategy. I also want to reiterate that as part of the development of the strategy, we will consider whether there is a need for a permanent mechanism to allow non-governmental organisations a role in the development and shaping of children's policy.

Over the past few months OFMDFM has received requests from a number of bodies, such as faith-based organisations and disability organisations, for places on the Forum. We will consider these, along with any other requests when reviewing the composition of the Forum. It should be noted, however, that in the interests of effectiveness, the size of the forum will have to be restricted. One huge talking shop, which cannot reach agreement, will benefit none - especially our children and young people.

It has often been said that children are our future, but they are also part of our present. We have a duty to recognise the value and importance of childhood and family life. The family is the main place where children's needs are met. The church has a long history of supporting family values and providing services to thousands of children throughout Northern Ireland, and the faith based youth groups that have organised and supported this conference today have once again brought family values and to the fore.

We recognise the absolutely vital role that the church plays in relation to children and we are keen to hear the views of all religious groups throughout the province, on what they see as the role and the remit of the Commissioner for Children in Northern Ireland.

I wish you well in your discussions today and we look forward to hearing your views on this important issue in due course.

Good afternoon.

There is no doubt that Northern Ireland has embarked on a new era of recognition and protection of human rights for everyone, including our children. Rights and responsibilities have become part of our every day language in Northern Ireland and that's the way it should be.

The Belfast Agreement has enshrined the principles of inclusion, equality, human rights and citizenship and the Northern Ireland Executive is committed to ensuring these principles are applied to the children and young people of Northern Ireland. We believe that the establishment of a Commissioner for Children is evidence of that commitment.

We in Government firmly believe that parents are almost always the best people to look after their children and that the family is the main place where children's needs are met, their safety secured and their rights upheld. Sometimes people are concerned when others talk about children having rights. But it is important to recognise that these rights have not been gained at the expense of, or indeed as an alternative to, the rights of parents or family life as we know it. It is a simple recognition of the fact that children are human beings and are worthy of respect and human dignity. We, in the Executive, believe that children's rights and family values are not antagonistic, but rather go hand in hand.

This approach is woven into the fabric of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which underpins our proposals for a Commissioner. For example:

· Article 5 places a duty on the state to respect the rights and responsibilities of parents and the wider family;

· Article 9 enshrines the child's right to live with his or her parents; and

· Article 18 obliges the state to recognise and promote parental responsibility and to support parents in discharging their responsibility.

We acknowledge the enormous contribution that faith-based organisations make to support family life in Northern Ireland and in the services that you provide for our children. We know that you have valuable expertise in service provision and we will welcome your views both in relation to our proposals for a Commissioner and also in relation to the strategy which will look at every aspect of children's lives. As Denis said, we will consider carefully how we might draw that expertise into the Forum

I am also delighted to see young people involved in today's conference, because children and young people are at the very heart of what we are trying to achieve.

Hearing the voice of the young is important. Politicians and adults in decision-making positions have long been criticised for not paying attention to what young people do, and indeed to what young people have to say. The days of 'children must be seen and not heard' are over. We in Government recognise that children have a right to be heard.

We accept that in the past we have not actively consulted with our young people, and it has been to our detriment in terms of the lost opportunities for a dynamic contribution from almost a third of our population. But we are determined that that will change and we are actively seeking views from the young people of Northern Ireland in relation to the Commissioner.

As Denis said, the formal consultation document on a Commissioner for Children for Northern Ireland was published on 9 August and the public has until 8 November to send us their views.

Many of you here today will, I hope, join in that exercise and I would strongly encourage you to do so. We would particularly welcome the views from children and young people as, above all, we want to make sure our proposals meet the needs of those whom the Commissioner is intended to help. It is important that children and young people have a say in what the Commissioner will do, what powers and duties he or she will have, and what sort of person the Commissioner should be.

Facilitator's and children's versions of the consultation document were designed for us by a group of young people, and we think they did an excellent job. These have been distributed to schools and youth groups throughout the province to help us find out the opinions of children and young people. All the versions of the consultation paper are also available on the internet and so you will get an opportunity to send in your responses by email direct to our Department.

This consultation on the Commissioner for Children gives children and young people the opportunity to let us know what they think a Commissioner for Children could do to make Northern Ireland a happier place for them to live. It is important that as many children as possible respond to this consultation .

I believe that the audience here today is made up of many youth leaders from some of the faith based groups throughout the province and I would ask that you encourage the children and young people that you work with to let us know their views on the Commissioner for Children.

Our aim is to put Northern Ireland at the leading edge of best practice in the protection of children's rights and we are asking for your help to make that aim a reality.

So far I have been talking about the Commissioner for Children. When he or she in appointed that person will act as a completely impartial and influential champion for children outside Government. The children's strategy will complement this by putting mechanisms in place to ensue that children's rights and needs are co-ordinated, monitored and promoted within Government. The strategy itself will aim high. It will recognise that our children deserve the best. It will set challenging long-term goals and pave the way for a programme for concerted co-ordinated action across government departments to achieve them.

No-one should under-estimate the magnitude of the task. It will require nothing less than a fundamental reconstruction of the way in which the public sector addresses the rights and needs of children. We must radically change the way we do business.

Of course it is going to take time to achieve this. The young people of today will be parents, policy-makers, even politicians, before the task is complete and that is why we must start now. Our children have inherited a legacy of conflict – we owe it to them to give them the best, most secure future we can.

With your help I know we can do that.