Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (yes, I know it’s a mouthful) states that:
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views
the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child
being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
For this purpose the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.
The mechanism by which the Kingston and Richmond Borough implement this crucial article is by having an election for a Youth Council. This Youth Council is elected for 2 years per term, and candidates who either live or go to school in those boroughs are eligible to run.
Although the candidates have been selected and they are in the process of forming their manifestos, if you weren’t involved initially then please support your local candidate and you can be their campaign manager in the school! At the end of the day, the work that the Youth Council has done encompasses the wellbeing of all of us, and examples include:
- Richmond Youth Well-being Survey (2019)
- Richmond Climate Change Youth Survey and Climate Change Youth Summit (2019)
- Kingston Youth Offer Survey (2019)
- Kingston Climate Change Youth Survey (2019)
- Visiting various youth clubs and schools
- Make Your Mark (2018)
- Mi Voice online poll (2018)
So please, look out for elections at schools and youth centres across the boroughs in March 2022 and support the candidate you think will represent your voice the best. Thanks for reading!
P.S. I am running, so please do check out my manifesto when March rolls around!
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