NI Commissioner for Children and Young People

Find out more about what NICCY does to protect the rights of children and young people in Northern Ireland at niccy.org.

Introducing the first edition of the Reforming Children’s Social Care Newsletter - Horizon. Peter Toogood, Deputy Secretary and Chair of the Programme, shares an update on progress, key priorities and what’s coming up. 👉Full video and newsletter: health-ni.gov.uk/articles/refor…

Really positive periodic meeting!

4/4 Chris said: “I welcome the opportunity to meet with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, and to discuss key child rights issues, including the benefits of incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law.”

3/4 He will reflect on some of the challenges, and discuss how he can work with the Executive to safeguard children’s rights more effectively.

1/4 Commissioner @chrisniccy is meeting the Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, and the First Minister, Michell O’Neill, at Stormont this afternoon. @niexecutive @ExecOfficeNI

Commissioner @chrisniccy met Dr Katy Radford, the Director of the Office of Identity and Cultural Expression, this afternoon. Chris said: “It was lovely to welcome Katy to the NICCY office and learn about OICE. I look forward to working with Katy and her office in the future.”

🎥 “We just want to do cartwheels at lunchtime.” 📚NI pupils calling for law change to allow all schoolgirls to wear trousers 🗣️ Rhea Donnell and Astrid Knox spoke to our reporter @TaraGriff along with @nichildcom Chris Quinn as they raised the issue at Stormont this week

Listen to Commissioner @ChrisNICCY speaking to @coolfmnews about proposed changes to the latest Uniform Bill to legally allow all girls to have the choice to wear trousers 💙🩷🧡💚❤️

Watch Commissioner @chrisniccy, NICCY's Laura McFall and NICCY Youth Panel members Rhea and Astrid. Follow @niassembly's live stream from 2pm of the @NIAEducation briefing for all pupils to have the option to wear trousers as part of their school uniform niassembly.tv/live-stream-2/

The Ten is Too Young Coalition has welcomed the tabling of an amendment to the Justice Bill that would raise Northern Ireland’s minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) from 10 to 16 years old, without exception. Full joint statement ➡️ niccy.org/news/ten-is-to… @chrisniccy

Commissioner welcomes Criminal Justice Inspection NI’s report into child criminal exploitation. @ChrisNICCY statement ➡️ niccy.org/news/commissio…

Watch our latest Committee meeting attendances and additional content on our YouTube channel @nichildcom" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@nichildcom 💙🩷🧡💚❤️

Watch Rachel Hogan from @ChildLawCentre and Commissioner @ChrisNICCY’s response to @NickDMathison MLA’s question about how to ‘unstick’ the issue of restrictive practices of children in schools, which was discussed at the @NIACfEd briefing last week. #HarrysLaw 💙🩷🧡💚❤️

Following an ENOC-Euro Child Roundtable event and his first in-person meeting as secretary at the European Parliament recently, @ChrisNICCY spoke to That’s TV Belfast about the need for NI to cooperate and have a voice on child’s rights issues across Europe 🩵🩷🧡💚❤️

Commissioner @chrisniccy and everyone at NICCY is delighted to support #CareDay26, the world’s biggest celebration of children and young people with care experience 🩵🩷🧡💚❤️

We have launched a new rights and wellbeing initiative for P1 children in the Derry & Strabane District area in partnership with @westernhsctrust and @dcsdcouncil. Follow the link to hear Commissioner @ChrisNICCY talk about the programme - youtu.be/VV8dL-_euJQ.

If you’ve not had a chance to read it yet, check out the report and an Executive Summary here ➡️ niccy.org/publications/a… 🩵🩷🧡💚❤️ @ChrisNICCY

We published ‘A System at a Crossroads’, a periodic review on the deep‑rooted challenges and barriers facing children and young people’s mental health services, last week.

Topics discussed included concerns about the lack progress and the speed of change, the hope that a human rights framework can be put in place to protect children and teachers when children become distressed, and the implementation of Harry’s Law. 🩵🩷🧡💚❤️

Commissioner @chrisniccy, Harry’s Law co-founder @shakespeare_d, and @ChildLawCentre’s Rachel Hogan briefed the Committee for Education yesterday on restrictive practices in schools.