Commission announces engagement with NI Youth Assembly on International Day of Education

On International Day of Education, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is delighted to announce we will be engaging with the Northern Ireland Youth Assembly over the coming year.

This will include interacting with the NI Youth Assembly members through a number of workshops on the work of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, as well a chance to work with their respective Human Rights & Equality, and Climate Change Committees.

Chief Commissioner Alyson Kilpatrick said:

"I am looking forward to engaging with the young people of the NI Youth Assembly over the coming months. The theme for this year’s International Day of Education is “to invest in people, prioritise education”, and it captures how vital it is to educate our young people around their human rights.

Our work with these young people will help to build an awareness of human rights, how they can be used, what issues are affecting Northern Ireland, and how the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission promotes and protects the rights of everyone in Northern Ireland.

I am grateful to the NI Assembly Education Service for facilitating this wonderful opportunity.”

Gareth McGrath, NI Assembly Director of Parliamentary Services added:

“The Youth Assembly was developed as a platform for young people here to be able to have their say and voice their opinions on issues that matter to them. To help facilitate their work, Youth Assembly members have been provided with lots of training and learning opportunities to enhance their understanding and support their skill development. As part of this, we are pleased that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission will be leading a series of workshops with members about its work.

The 90 young people in the Youth Assembly are passionate about raising awareness of human rights, in particular those who sit on the Rights and Equality Committee.

Over the coming months as our members work towards their final reports, it will be particularly beneficial for them be able to tap into the expertise provided by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission team.

We are very grateful to the Assembly Speaker, Alex Maskey and to Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick for this opportunity and look forward to hearing more from our members about what they have learned and how this has helped their work.”

ENDS

Notes

1. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a statutory public body established in 1999 to promote and protect human rights. In accordance with the Paris Principles the Commission reviews the adequacy and effectiveness of measures undertaken by the UK Government to promote and protect human rights, specifically within Northern Ireland. For more information on our work, follow this link: https://nihrc.org/about-us/who-we-are
2. The Northern Ireland Youth Assembly is made up of 90 young people aged 13 to 17 years old. The Northern Ireland Assembly makes laws about things like education, health, transport and the environment. Members of the Youth Assembly have a unique opportunity to share their views and directly influence decisions taken by the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Youth Assembly members discuss the issues that they think are important and put forward their ideas. Youth Assembly members are appointed for a term of two years. For more information on the NI Youth Assembly, follow this link: https://niyouthassembly.org/