Wednesday marks the end to a two-day conference in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for people who work with youth in the province. All sorts of perspectives were represented, from human rights workers to case workers at the Nova Scotia Justice Department and Community and Social Services, among others.
It’s sponsored by UNICEF and is highlighting some of the work being done by the Youth and Seniors Division of the Nova Scotia Ombudsman’s Office. The theme of the conference was “the rights of the child”. The International Treaty on the Rights of the Child was signed by the majority of nations worldwide in 1991, including Canada. It is a permanent and lasting agreement that solidifies the duty of signing countries to ensure and protect fundamental children’s rights. These include access to safe shelter, food, and education.
The Office of the Ombudsman was established in 1996, and is integral to rights protection. The Youth Division works daily with kids from infancy to late-teens who are in the custody or care of the province.
- Canada and Japan sign partnership deal on defence, energy, trade
- ‘A foreign policy based on short memory’: Carney continues push to diversify from the U.S.
- Carney says former prince Andrew should be removed from line to throne
- Oil surges to highest price since 2023 as Iran war chokes Strait of Hormuz
Kay Rogers-Lidstone is the manager of Youth and Seniors Services with the Ombudsman’s Office. She says the hope is that the conference will help youth workers in Nova Scotia broaden their understanding of children and help develop new ways of approaching rights-based issues. “We’ll be learning about children’s rights,” she says, “because every child from the age of zero to 18 has rights.”
Get breaking National news
In 2012, the Youth Division visited and dealt with 473 youth across Nova Scotia in various facilities from group homes to secure care institutions, like the facility in Truro, Nova Scotia. Rogers-Lidstone emphasizes how important it is that everyone knows youth have a voice and an advocate. “Sometimes when there is a new youth coming to the system, they are not aware of what their rights are,” she says. “We help to educate them and we advocate for process and always assist youth to advocate for themselves.” She says the next step is to create more programs within the foster care system, so that foster parents and foster children know exactly what is available to them.
Rogers-Lidstone says a typical concern of a youth in the system could be something as simple as food and nutrition. In this case, she says, the youth would chat with their representative from the Ombudsman’s Office and the representative would find the best way for that child to be given a voice or a say. She says that may mean forming a committee or an advisory board to hear about the concern and then find the best way to deal with it.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.