Anouncement of Commisioner For Children

Good morning Dr Hamilton, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

It is with great delight that I am here today to make a significant and historic announcement. But before I do that, I must say a special thank you to the Strandtown School Choir for their lovely singing – it’s a lovely way to start the day. Thank you boys and girls.

As many people here today will know, the Executive announced its intention to establish a Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland two and a half years ago. That decision reflected a common desire to ensure a better, more secure future for children and young people. It acknowledged that the need to safeguard and uphold the rights of children had been a matter of concern for many, including representatives from children’s organisations, some of whom I know are here today. And it recognised that children and young people make up over one quarter of the population of Northern Ireland - that’s over four hundred and fifty thousand children under the age of 18 – and yet too often their needs and rights have been overlooked.

What was clear from the outset was a real commitment to shaping new arrangements for protecting children and upholding their rights and in doing so, putting Northern Ireland at the cutting edge of best practice in the world.

Since then, we have been working hard to deliver on that commitment; developing the remit, role and functions of the Commissioner were agreed; and drawing up the necessary legislation, which was passed by Parliament in February of this year. So the framework was in place. But we still needed to find the right person to do the job.

To help us do that we established a Young People’s Advisory Forum made up of 48 young people aged 12-18 from all over Northern Ireland. One of their tasks has been to take part in the appointment process. Nine of the young people were selected by their peers to be involved, and they were trained in equality and employment issues as well as formal interviewing skills. The result has been a process which has been very innovative – and I shall leave it to Michael and Amelia to tell you more about it – but their involvement, from the drafting of the person specification through to the role play and interview assessments, has ensured that the Commissioner for Children and Young People can have the confidence of all children and young people in Northern Ireland.

I am very pleased to say that most of the nine members of the young people’s panel are here today, along with the adults who worked with them through the process. On behalf of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister I would like to thank all of you and the others who can’t be here today, who have contributed to making this appointment possible. A lot of energy and initiative has gone into making this a hugely successful process and one which I know others are keen to learn from.

This is indeed an historic day for the children and young people of Northern Ireland. Until now, the Commissioner has been merely an idea or an important title. But from today, that changes. The Commissioner is a reality; his name is Nigel Williams and he is here today to meet you.

Nigel is taking on an important job, and like anyone in that position, he needs to find out what his new bosses expect him to do. But that doesn’t mean the government, it means you and all the other children and young people in Northern Ireland.

Nigel is your Commissioner, your champion, the person who will help you to speak out and ensure that your rights are safeguarded and respected.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland has the widest range of powers of any Commissioner for Children in the world. We can take pride in the fact that Northern Ireland can now be held up as a model for best practice and a world-leader in this important area.

We in government look forward very much to working with the new Commissioner; and I want to wish him well at this time of exciting opportunity.

Children and young people, ladies and gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to present to you the First Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland, Mr Nigel Williams.