Mr. Eoin Millar:

I thank all of the speakers who have spoken. It has been invaluable to hear their opinions. I am a charity trustee and the treasurer for the NIYF. Our purpose is to promote the youth voice, which we were established in 1979 to do. We promote the youth voice in a variety of methods through "have your say" days and by directly engaging with decision-makers.

Today, I will focus on children's rights, which are a key part of my vision for the future. Primarily, the main form of children's rights comes from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC. The United States of America is the only state in the whole world that has not ratified the convention. Saudi Arabia, North Korea and even Somalia have ratified the convention. I believe it is crucial to use diplomatic links to enshrine the convention within the United States of America.

Closer to home, the UNCRC has four general principles: the best interests of the child; non-discrimination; having a say; and survival and development. I doubt that any person would disagree with the importance of these principles and the requirement for a modern society to look after its youth. The UNCRC also has other optional conventions that further enshrine children's rights.

A periodic review is currently being conducted for the United Kingdom. The NIYF's submission is our youth manifesto for change which utilises a rights-based approach for our key themes. The thematic manifesto has been compiled following research we conducted over the past five years, and after meeting stakeholders and conferring with young people on the document.

Currently in Northern Ireland there are approximately 500,000 young people aged 25 and under. This is new information that was recently released following the historic census results, and other results were published there as well. It seems that children and young people make up between one third and one quarter of Northern Irish society with lots of varying identities. Regardless of identity, one thing that must unite us all, young and old, is rights. We know they exist but education is properly lacking within the specific realm of children's rights. We know that we have the right to vote if we have reached the age of 18, and that we have the right to life, privacy, etc. Through our own research we have realised that children and young people are unaware, through no fault of their own, of the special rights afforded to them. Do rights truly exist if one is not aware of them?

I was first made aware of the UNCRC when I was 16 years old. I had returned to school after the Covid lockdown. That summer was a mental and hectic period. I found it challenging, but it helped me to grow and made me more resilient. I saw a notice that the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, NICCY, was looking for youth ambassadors. NICCY is the Northern Ireland equivalent of the Ombudsman for Children in the South. I decided to apply and was lucky enough to get accepted. Only for such good luck I would not have known my rights when they were still afforded to me. Now that I am 18 years old, I fall outside of that scope. I only had two years in which I was aware of my rights and was able to talk to decision-makers knowing the power that I had because of this document. The Children's Law Centre stated in its submission to the periodic review that there were "systematic failures, with no comprehensive framework to provide strong protections for children's rights in Northern Ireland". Why does that matter? States must respect, protect and fulfil the convention regarding all of the decisions that affect children and young people, but we have seen regression in certain states. We know that children and young people are utilised as soldiers in certain areas so not only is their right to life and play removed but their childhood is also ruined, and childhood is a precious and truly once-in-a-lifetime thing. We have also seen that rights have been made harder to access in terms of knowledge and implementation. We have seen rights being taking for granted such as the overturning of abortion rights via Roe v.Wade in the United States. We need rights in order to have a meaningful and powerful future, regardless of what the constitutional arrangements are. Therefore, knowledge and empowerment are crucial. When children and young people are aware of their rights, they know when some entity has wronged them and can seek redress to make a more fair, equal and just society.

Young people are not just the future because we are here and we are now. I thank the Chairperson for inviting us. I do not have a view on constitutional change but regardless of what happens, children's rights must be protected and enshrined in law everywhere. I thank everyone for their time.