Chief Commissioner engages with NI Youth Assembly Committee

Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner Alyson Kilpatrick has appeared before the NI Youth Assembly’s Rights & Equality Committee.

In the last plenary session of their term, Youth Assembly Members quizzed the Chief Commissioner on a wide range human rights issues affecting children and young people in Northern Ireland. The Committee also presented its findings and recommendations for addressing these concerns.

Chief Commissioner Alyson Kilpatrick said:

“This was an amazing opportunity to hear about the great work that has been done by the NI Youth Assembly and the Rights & Equality Committee over their term. The young people spoke so passionately on the issues that matter to them, what their concerns are, and how they think we need to tackle these issues. I share their concern as many of these we have highlighted in our most recent Annual Statement as needing urgent remedy.

I was honoured to be able to speak to the Committee about the work of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The wide range of issues raised by the Committee such as child's rights impact assessments; tackling child poverty and the impact of the rise in the cost of living; education and enforcement of rights inside and outside of schools; are a reminder that we have much work to do in sufficiently addressing rights issues that are impacting on our young people’s lives.

I want to extend my thanks to the NI Youth Assembly and the Rights & Equality Committee for the invitation, and I wish the outgoing Members all the best with whatever they do next, you have very bright futures ahead of you.”

Sofia Wilkin, NI Youth Assembly Member added:

“The opportunity to question the Chief Commissioner was very valuable to me, as she treated us with such respect and seemed to really appreciate our words and provided thoughtful and insightful answers to our questions. I think I can speak for everyone at the meeting in saying that it was very useful and we are all very grateful.”

Ollie Torney, Youth Assembly Member said:

“I thought that the opportunity to engage with the Chief Commissioner was incredible interesting. I loved finding out answers to our Committee’s most pressing questions. It is definitely a highlight of my Youth Assembly experience.”

ENDS