Nat’l Child Strategy to strengthen inclusion

A parliamentary committee observed that one of the key objectives of the National Child Strategy is to further stress the importance of children and young people’s own involvement.

The committee appointed to ensure that the strategy addresses the issue of children’s inclusion in particular made the observation at a meeting on Wednesday, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

“Inclusion is important to us all. To ensure inclusion, it is necessary that the rights to participate are secured as fundamental and human rights. We all, including children and young people, have the right to be included,” said Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru, who chairs the committee.

“The Child Strategy will provide a good basis for strengthening the inclusion and participation of children and young people in society. It is important that we carry out this work together on a broad front to ensure that the voices of children and young people will be better heard in Finland,” Kiuru added.

A publication on the inclusion of children written by Doctor of Administrative Sciences Elina Stenvall was submitted to the committee.

The publication titled ‘Inclusion and participation’ describes two dimensions of inclusion —the experience of belonging to a group on the one hand and on the other, the experience of having opportunities to influence matters that are important to you.