Nordic co-operation on children’s and young people’s opportunities for participation and development after the COVID-19 pandemic

A number of measures have been taken across the Nordic region to protect the population from the COVID-19 infection and to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic. But these measures have also created a situation where more children and young people are exposed to vulnerable situations. Schools, cultural and leisure activities have been fully or partially shut down for periods of time and many health care, social care and support services have become less accessible. These services are especially important to protecting and helping children and young people and those in difficult situations.

Objective

The Nordic Council of Ministers’ strategy for Children and young people in the Nordic Region, is to create good living conditions for children and young people and increase their opportunities to influence policies that affect their lives. In line with this strategy, the project promotes the right of children and young people to participate and be heard in all matters that affect their lives, in line with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right and the impact of the coronavirus crisis are intertwined. By listening to and involving all children and young people, we ensure that the consequences of the measures taken during the pandemic will be adequately assessed. Measures that have been adequately assessed are more fit for purpose and targeted, while protecting and helping the most vulnerable and exposed members of society.

Our assignment

The Nordic Council of Ministers’ goal is for the Nordic region to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. A prerequisite to achieving this goal is ensuring equal opportunities for the participation and development for all children and young people in the Nordic region.

Since 2021, the Nordic Welfare Centre has led a four-and-a-half-year Nordic cooperation project on children and young people’s rights and opportunities for participation and influence during the coronavirus pandemic. We have relied on research, surveys and policy instruments to investigate and mitigate the impact on children and young people in the Nordic countries.  Within the framework of the project, valuable knowledge has been collected and compiled so that it can be disseminated and developed further.

Scope

The project has compiled and will continue to disseminate knowledge and experiences based on the coronavirus measures implemented in the Nordic countries. It will also gather knowledge about how the measures have affected the conditions for children and young people to participate and influence policies that affect their lives. The project has a special focus on the effect of reduced access or periodic closure of schools and leisure facilities during the pandemic. The target group is all children and young people aged 0-25, with a particular focus on those who were already in vulnerable situations prior to the pandemic.

The project is based on a focus on children’s and young people’s rights and includes activities within youth organisations, as well as civil society as a whole.

Young people in the Nordic region have actively participated and continue to participate in the project. Watch our recorded interviews with Nordic youth talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and why the right to have your voice heard is important in times of crisis: