UNCRC – Cardiff Youth Council

Universal Children’s Day

November 20, 2021November 19, 2021Cardiff Youth Council

World Children’s Day started way back in 1954 as “Universal Children’s Day” and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.

Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children’s rights. We use this day to celebrate the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and improving the lives of young people right across the world.

Cardiff Youth Council want to make you more aware of the impact and significance of these days and how the UNCRC has improved the lives of children and young people across the world.

The World is not perfect…but the welfare for young people right across the world has improved. The amount of young people feeling safe has improved. The amount of provision and access to youth services has improved. Most importantly “Children and young people have a voice and a choice in decisions that affect them” – (Article 12 UNCRC).

There is still more that can be done. There are always ways to improve and reach more young people improving their lives and providing more opportunities. Today we celebrate all our achievements and the developments towards a brighter future for all children and young people and we ask you to take one small step in reaching that goal. Lets all raise awareness of Universal Children’s Day.

Kyle: Cardiff Youth Council Member

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Welsh Youth Parliament Elections

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021Cardiff Youth Council

The Welsh Youth Parliament supports the voice of young people in Wales, on the issues you care about, at a national level.

If you’re 11 and up to 18 years old, and go to school or college in Wales, then register to vote today – so you can decide who represents you in the Welsh Youth Parliament.

60 young people aged 11 – 18 will become Welsh Youth Parliament Members. You’ll elect 40 of them by voting in the election in November 2021. You can discover all the candidates and vote for the candidate you want to represent you via the Welsh Youth Parliament Website. To be able to vote in the Welsh Youth Parliament elections you’ll have to register first.

Registration is online and takes less than 5 minutes.

You have until 5pm on 12 November 2021 to register. Don’t miss out

USING YOUR VOTE

From the 18 October 2021 you’ll be able to see all the candidates who are standing to be a Welsh Youth Parliament Member where you live.

You’ll be able to read their bio and decide which one you think represents how you think and feel about the issues you care about. Vote for who you want to represent you in the Welsh Youth Parliament.

If you have registered to vote by 29 October you’ll receive an email on 1 November with instructions on how to vote.

If you register between 29 October – 12 November you’ll receive your email instructions on 15 November.

You can vote online anytime between 1 November 2021 and 22 November 2021.

Be part of your future and register to vote: Nominations (mi-nomination.com)

Find your Candidates here: Candidates (senedd.wales)

iSay Ambassadors

March 17, 2017March 17, 2017Cardiff Youth Council

The iSay Ambassadors have been working extremely hard this term. Since the iSay Ambassadors have been delivering workshops in November 2016 they have engaged with a total of 969 children and young people across schools in Cardiff.

Lots of positive feedback has been received telling us their knowledge on children’s rights and democracy has increased by 20%!

iSay Ambassador Emma (19) said ‘ The debates that happen with the young people in the workshops are great, I really enjoy them!’

If you’d like to keep up to date with the work they have been doing, give their Facebook page a like – I Say Ambassadors.

Please call 07976056135 or email sophiejones@Cardiff.gov.uk for more information on how to book your free workshops.

Participation Standards Meeting With AM

March 17, 2017March 17, 2017Cardiff Youth Council

Young Inspectors Chloe and Angharad met with Mark Isherwood conservative Assembly Member for North Wales to talk to him about the recent work that has been carried out on the refreshed National Participation Standards and how the framework is being used in Cardiff.

Mark was very keen to hear how young people had helped in the new developments and their views on the forth coming National Youth Assembly. Chloe and Angharad were joined by Josh chair of the Young Wales Project Board.

The new revamped National Participation Standards can be seen here on the right and copies can be ordered at:

cardiffyouthcouncil@cardiff.gov.uk

CYC Met With Future Generations Commissioner

March 17, 2017March 17, 2017Cardiff Youth Council

Seven CYC members went to meeting Sophie Howe, Further Generations Commissioner in January. The meeting enabled young people to find out more about the role of the Future Generations Commissioner as well as raise concerns and share key issues raised by young people.

CYC Member James Martin (16) said ‘It was great to meet Sophie, she was friendly and explained her role which covers a lot of things’

Issues discussed included Brexit, the M4 relief road and the future career pathways for young people.

Young Wales Conference – Cardiff 2017

March 17, 2017March 17, 2017Cardiff Youth Council

Seven CYC members represented the youth council at the Young Wales Conference at the Future Inn Hotel in Cardiff Bay in February.

The day was hosted by two young people from the Young Wales Project Board who did a really professional job.

The conference was spilt into different sections including workshops developed by the project board and co delivered alongside professionals.

The interactive workshops covered a range of areas including mental health and well-being, bullying, climate change and school curriculum.

During lunch there was an opportunity for young people to visit stands in the market place as well as have a say on the development of the proposed National Youth Assembly for Wales.

Participants also had the chance to use the photo booth which was very popular indeed!

During the afternoon session there was a video message from Carl Sargeant AM & Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children and a presentation by Professor Sally Holland, Children’s Commissioner for Wales on her work over the past year.

David Abadir (16), CYC Vice Chair said ‘Not only was the conference good fun, it gave young people from across the country the chance to meet up and discuss the work that they were doing and share ideas’

To finish off the conference there was a question & answer session were young people were able to put questions to a panel, which including the Children’s Commissioner and Assembly Members.

Making Rights A Reality — Our Grand Council

December 14, 2016Cardiff Youth Council

100 children and young people from across 26 schools came together to discuss the important issues of children’s rights at this months Grand Council event at Cardiff City Hall.

The high profile event was sponsored by Cardiff Council Cabinet Member for Democracy and Citizen Engagement Dan De’Ath who opened the event stating ‘We need you to tell us what a Child Friendly City looks like because you are the experts! All the work and ideas developed throughout today’s event will shape our thinking and inform the way forward for Cardiff’.

Delegates had a busy day-long programme including taking part in workshops on democracy and children’s rights then breaking into teams to develop their vision of a Child Friendly City.

Each team looked into 3 elements communication, governance and democracy. After a short lunch break teams then returned to the council chamber to present their vision with one team even righting a song!

One young delegate from Greenhill School said that ‘he enjoyed the day so much, he was buzzing’

Cardiff Council will now take the findings from the Grand Council and use it to develop their city wide vision to embed children’s rights across the city.

An application to form a partnership with global charity Unicef will take place by the end of the year hopefully leading to a range of programmes for 2017 onwards.

Parliament Take Over!

December 14, 2016Cardiff Youth Council

On Friday 11^th November, Elin Bold and Stephanie Ezeadum, Members of Youth Parliament for Cardiff debated a range of topical issues, including the need for a ‘curriculum for life’ and tackling racial and religious discrimination in the House of Commons. Elin gave a speech on her ideas for a ‘better, kinder democracy’.

276 Members of Youth Parliament from across the UK participated in the debate and have been elected by their peers to represent them with proceedings being chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP.

This year’s UK Youth Parliament’s sitting will have marked the 7th year that MYP’s have debated on the green benches of the House of Commons. The sitting heralds the start of UK Parliament Week, an annual festival of events intended to connect communities across the UK with their democracy. This year’s Make Your Mark ballot to decide the topics of the Youth Parliament’s debate in the House of Commons, received a record number of ballots, reaching 978,216 young people. This cemented Make Your Mark as the biggest youth consultation of its kind in UK history, with almost two million young people aged 11-18 taking part in the last two years.

The debates where broadcast on BBC Parliament.

Members of Youth Parliament voted to campaign on votes at 16 and a curriculum for life (devolved England issue only) in 2017 with 112,687 young people across the UK voting to lower the voting age to 16 as their top priority in the recent Make Your Mark ballot.

Votes at 16 has been a campaign for the UK Youth Parliament for several years and there were passionate speeches made for the campaign in the House of Commons Chamber.

Young People Shout Out!

December 14, 2016Cardiff Youth Council

CYC have been busy coordinating the UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark Ballot here in Cardiff once again. CYC members have been contacting schools and youth groups all across the city to take part in the biggest youth consultation for 11-18 year olds in Europe. This year we had over 9500 young people from across the city take part and cast their votes. The top 3 issues voted for by young people were in 2016 were:

A curriculum should prepare us for life: School should cover topics including finance, sex & relationships and politics in the curriculum.

Tackling racism and religious discrimination, particularly against people who are Muslim or Jewish :

All young people should work together to combat racism and other forms of discrimination, and ensure we know the danger of such Hatred.

First aid education for all young people: All young people should learn basic First Aid on a regular basis , including CPR and all schools in the UK should have a defibrillator.

United Nations Universal Day Of The Child Celebration

December 14, 2016Cardiff Youth Council

The globally recognised day for children’s rights was marked by CYC with an event at County Hall on Monday 21st of November.

A range of key decision makers and partners joined CYC members including Council Directors, Senior Politicians, representatives from Welsh Government Ministerial Office, 3^rd sector partners and the Children’s Commissioners Office.

As well as championing children’s rights participants were served afternoon tea and played a range of rights based games.

The busy programme included showcasing the positive impact of the work developed by CYC in 2015/16, learning about Rights Respecting Schools, announcing youth priorities for Cardiff 2016, and recognising schools roll in this year’s Make Your Mark Programme.

CYC Chairperson Xinyu Ye (17) said ‘We think it is important to bring together key decision makers to raise awareness of the importance of children’s rights and highlight examples of work which comes as a result of children being able to have their rights met’