Commissioner gives evidence to the Equality and Social Justice Committee
The Commissioner gave evidence to the Equality and Social Justice committee on their focused inquiry on Welsh Government’s draft child poverty strategy.
A key message from the Commissioner is that Welsh Government must comprehensively revise their draft strategy. It does not match the gravity of the situation facing children and young people in Wales, lacks ambition and, most importantly, the strategy must be accompanied by a comprehensive Action Plan and monitoring framework which sets out targets and measurable outcomes.
You can read our submission to the committee on the Senedd website.
Tŷ Hafan
Recently The Commissioner and a member of the policy team visited Tŷ Hafan Hospice for children and young people. They heard about the end of life care they provide to so many children and their families across Wales. It was great to listen to them sharing their work and impact with us.
Cardiff Hub
Rocio and a member of our policy team was recently invited to the launch of the Hangout, a new space that has been co-designed with young people to access mental health support and opportunities to join creative wellbeing groups. This was created as a result of a partnership between Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Platform. It was fantastic to see such an important service that has been created with young people.
Staff Development Day
This month the staff came together in person to discuss ideas, insights and thoughts about children rights issues currently facing children and young people in Wales. We had great discussions and heard from all functions within the organistion as part of our work planning process. We look forward to doing further work to promote and protect children’s rights in Wales.
Penyrheol School Visit
Rocio enjoyed a special visit to Penyrheol Primary School who held a special assembly to mark 50 years since the military coup in Chile (where Rocio was born) and commemorate its victims. Our Participation Team also shared a session about children’s rights education. We delivered a lesson based on a book called ‘The Journey’ by Francesca Sanna to the learners and had great discussions about Children’s Rights based the book, and the children were excited to share the start of their learning journey on their rights with us.
WLGA Conference
The WLGA Conference was held in Venue Cymru, Llandudno this year. The event was opened by the First Minister who highlighted key challenges facing local authorities, and people in Wales including the cost of living crisis. Here she discussed our joint paper with the Welsh Language Commissioner on the Welsh Language and Additional Learning Needs. You can find out more and read the joint report on our website.
ENOC – Brussels
September has been a busy month for the Commissioner as she travelled to Belgium to the Independent Children’s Rights Institutions Conference. This is a conference where children’s commissioners and ombudspersons meet to discuss the issues facing children in their respective jurisdictions. The conference concentrated on the theme of “The Role of ICRIs in the Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights”. It was also great to hear from the European Network of Young Advisors and hear the views of young people from across the continent.
Next month we’ll be publishing our annual report, and meeting and listening to young people in engagement events in Blaenau Gwent, Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, Powys, and Swansea.