Local Youth Xperts
Children’s rights at system level
Under the Norwegian Constitution Section 92, municipalities have an independent responsibility to respect and ensure human rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This means that municipalities are also obligated under the UNCRC to listen to representative groups of children and give weight to their views when decisions are made or measures are implemented that affect this group.
Tools for decision-makers in municipalities
The tools can be used by decision-makers responsible for upbringing and youth services, the administration for upbringing and youth services, and service managers.
About the project Local Youth Xperts
Young people from minority backgrounds and vulnerable life situations have been invited as experts to design tools that make it possible for young people like them to be heard in local decision-making processes that affect young people.
The young people have developed tools that decision-makers in municipalities can use to quickly collect advice and feedback from all young people in the municipality, or from a specific group of young people.
Decision-makers and the administration in Voss municipality and Nittedal municipality in Norway have been presented with the tools during the project and have provided valuable input to ensure that the tools are as relevant and well-targeted as possible for decision-makers.
Young people, especially those in vulnerable life situations, do not have the same opportunities to participate in democracy and decision-making processes where they live. They can face many barriers to participation, like language barriers, being viewed as having behavioural issues or being too sick to participate, or simply being seen as too young. In many municipalities, there are youth councils, but young people have many different experiences with these councils.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child describes how authorities must do this as follows:
FNs barnekomité beskriver hvordan myndighetene må gjøre dette slik:
“The procedure for assessing and determining the best interests of children as a group is, to some extent, different from that regarding an individual child. When the interests of a large number of children are at stake, Government institutions must find ways to hear the views of a representative sample of children and give due consideration to their opinions when planning measures or making legislative decisions which directly or indirectly concern the group, in order to ensure that all categories of children are covered.”
Under the Norwegian Constitution Section 92, municipalities have an independent responsibility to respect and ensure human rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This means that municipalities are also obligated under the UNCRC to hear the views of representative groups of children and give due weight to their views when decisions are made, or measures are implemented that affect this group.