Funky Dragon AGM Cardiff 2014
Just before I left for my trip to Liverpool and then to Spain for a holiday with my family I heard news about the Welsh Government were cutting the entirety of their funding to Funky Dragon, the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales, a youth-led organisation whose aim is to ensure that every child in Wales has their voice heard on a national level on matters that affect them.
Rewind to the beginning of the 20th Century, woman didn't have a say in the decisions that affected them, let alone any children! This is the narrative that permeated the Children’s rights scene throughout the most part of the 20th century, albeit for some pioneers such as Eglantyne Jebb. It wasn't until 1989 that United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was completed, recognising that although children’s rights were implicit in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1945, children’s rights deserved a separate piece of legislature, to recognise the unique requirements of children. But what relevance does this have in modern day Wales?
Well, Funky Dragon upholds the need for children’s rights, and ensures that article 12 (as well as all the others) is met in a fair and representative way. Article 12 states that “ The child has the right to express his or her opinion freely and to have that opinion taken into account in any matter or procedure affecting the child.”
Every local authority in Wales has a youth forum that acts as a local space for young people to meet and discuss issues that affect them and their communities, whether that is their school council or other gatherings of young people. Each youth forum has three elected members who are part of Funky Dragon, these three representatives are responsible for taking the views that the other young people have and to feed them into the national Grand Council, from here members can write recommendations, meet with ministers and professionals and make real changes for young people in Wales.
Now, however, this national forum for young people will cease to exist, and with no alternative independent and youth led organisation on the horizon, what will become of children’s rights in Wales?
When I heard the news I thought “What is going to happen now?” I expected there to be some way forward.
We, the young people who are Funky Dragon have a campaign to help “Protect Funky Dragon” so please, if you’re reading this, wherever you are from, sign the petition online, and if you can, write an email to Welsh Government to support children’s rights to be heard and support Funky Dragon.
For me, this AGM was sad, there are people I know, friends I have made that I am unlikely to meet again, but I am also hopeful, and determined to make Welsh Government think again about what has happened and to think of a way forward that ensures that children and young people in Wales are involved in the decision-making that affects them, in a meaningful way.