Young people help develop and launch Children's Rights Charter
08/06/2023
Children and young people from across North Wales have developed a Children’s Rights Charter with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) to ensure their voices are heard.
The health board’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Neurodevelopment Services launched the Children’s Right’s Charter at a special event with guests and speakers including Rocio Cifuentes, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and young people who helped develop the charter.
Scarlett Williams, one of the young people who helped develop the charter, said: “The development of the Children’s Charter has been a brilliant opportunity for young people to have a voice and be heard, putting their experience into practice to enact positive change.
“Following the launch of the Charter, such action will hopefully continue as it is implemented into services with the guidance of the Recipe Book, raising awareness of children’s rights and what matters to young people.”
The charter, based on the United Nations Convention (UNCRC) Rights of the Child, is a set of standards that the Health Board will work to, to make sure children and young people of North Wales, which makes up 27% of the total population (Office of National Statistics, 2021), are treated fairly and have a voice on matters that are important to them.
Wendy Pinder, interim head of nursing for East Area CAMHS, Neurodevelopment and Learning Disability Services, said: “We’re delighted to have launched the charter that we have developed with children and young people from across North Wales. The Children’s Rights agenda is a leading priority for us and within the charter we’ve made 10 promises that let children and young people know their opinion will be respected, their voice will be listened to, they will be supported to make their own decisions, and looked after equally.
“We promise to provide children and young people with the best treatment, advice and health education to help them grow up to be healthy, happy and all they can be. We will also answer questions honestly and in an easily understandable way.”
During the development of the charter CAMHS held large scale events engaging with around 2,400 children and young who helped create a ‘recipe book’, which provides knowledge and insight into what matters to young people, and to support organisations across North Wales in creating their own promises of standards and values for the children and young people accessing services and supporting future generations.