Inclusion campaign for children and young people

Children and young people, join us in brainstorming to strengthen the rights of children!

Come join us in brainstorming on how to strengthen the rights of children and young people. What do you think should be done to raise awareness of the rights of the child and to have these rights respected in every child’s life?

The campaign is open to any child or young person under the age of 18. Send your idea to us between 19 November and 19 December 2021. The patron of the campaign is Jenni Haukio, spouse of the President of the Republic.

The implementation plan promotes the inclusion of children and their right to information

Finland’s first National Child Strategy was completed earlier this year, and now it is time to act. The implementation plan for the Child Strategy includes 30 different measures to strengthen the rights of the child in Finland. The measures set out in the implementation plan help promote the inclusion of children and their right to information, for example.

According to adults, children’s right to information will be strengthened through the following measures:

• We will produce a training package for adults who work with children.
• We will also prepare a handbook on child welfare for children and young people.
• We will prepare material on children’s rights which you can go through during school lessons.

What do you think? Let us know and take part in our campaign.

How to participate:

Come join us in brainstorming on how to strengthen the rights of children and young people. What do you think should be done to raise awareness of the rights of the child and to have these rights respected in every child’s life? Any child or young person under the age of 18 can participate.

• Think of an idea, either alone or together with someone else (e.g. friends, school class, leisure activity group, sisters or brothers).
• Note! More information on the organisation of workshops is available further down on this page. You are free to make use of this information.
• Send your idea to us through this Webropol-form between 19 November and 19 December 2021
• Participate in the voting between 26 January and 9 February 2022

When submitting your idea:

• Please provide a brief description of the idea.
• You can also tell us why it should be implemented.
• If you know who could possibly implement the idea, you can tell us that, too.

The ideas should be practical, they should have an impact on children and young people in general, and it should be possible to implement them during 2022. We cannot fund ideas which benefit only individual children, young people, schools or areas.

What happens to the submitted ideas?

Following the deadline for submitting ideas, we will go through the ideas we have received and prepare them for consideration by the panel. If we receive many similar ideas, they can be combined during the preparation. After the preparation process, the feasible ideas will be submitted to the panel, which will then give its own assessment of the ideas. Members of the panel are listed below.

Based on the panel’s assessment, about 10–12 ideas will selected and put to a vote for children and young people. Children and young people will be able to vote for those ideas (2–6 ideas) that they want to be taken forward in 2022. The voting is between 26 January and 9 February 2022. The election results will published on 14 February 2022.

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Guidelines for organising workshops

Proposals can be gathered, for example, by:

• organising discussions
• interviewing children and young people
• asking children and young people to put their ideas in writing

Things to be considered when working in workshops:

• A safe space for children
• Different perspectives are taken into account
• A joint proposal is prepared for submission

Principles of a safe space:

• Be open-minded and cooperative
• Respect others.Let others express their views, don’t bully or downplay their ideas.
• Be encouraging.
• Making mistakes and asking questions is acceptable, there are no right or wrong answers.
• Speak clearly. Adults, in particular, pay attention to how people speak. Ask if you don’t understand.
• Participation is voluntary. It is not necessary to answer a question and leaving is acceptable, if you feel like it.

Composition of the Panel

As secretaries Laura Saarinen (National Child Strategy) and Elina Stensvall (SOS-lapsikylä).

• Johanna Laisaari, National Child Strategy (chair)
• Eero Löytömäki, Allianssi
• Tuomas Kurttila,  the Federation of Mother and child homes and Shelters
• Christina Gestri, Folktinget
• Elina Pekkarinen,  The Ombudsman for Children
• Hanna Tulensalo, Save the Children
• Onni Westlund, Pesäpuu
• Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio, Sámi Youth Council
• Lotte Telakivi, Seta
• Johanna Olli, University of Turku
• Janette Grönfors, National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs
• Sanna Valtonen, Support for Asylum Seekers

The patron of the campaign is Jenni Haukio, spouse of the President of the Republic.

Do you have any questions?

For more information on the campaign, please contact Laura Saarinen, laura.e.saarinen@gov.fi, tel. +358 50 476 5118.