CPAT in Iceland
We used the CPAT tool to assess child participation and make a plan for next steps
Ministry of Social Affairs and Children and Ministry of Education and Children.
During the CPAT process in Iceland, great emphasis was put on consultations and the participation of children throughout. In the beginning of the project, an expert group was formed. This group included stakeholders from various NGOs and government bodies that work on children’s rights or for children. Namely representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs; UNICEF Iceland; Save the Children Iceland; Icelandic Human Rights Centre; Home and School – the National Association of Parents; Þroskahjálp – Iceland’s National Association of People with Intellectual Disabilities; Samfés - Youth Work Iceland; the Ombudsperson for Children in Iceland; the University of Iceland; the ADHD organization in Iceland; The National Youth Council of Iceland.
Alongside this group, the project was introduced the government’s statutory group for Children’s Rights early on. Members of this group were responsible for looking at the parts of the assessment tool that applied to their Ministries. The group consists of representatives from the Ministry of Health; Ministry of Education and Children; Ministry of Infastructure; Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs; Prime Ministry; Ministry of Social Affairs and the Labour Market; Ministry of Justice; and the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities.
For the second year of the project, actual child participation was at the forefront. In April 2022 the Ministry of Education and Children appointed two child-consultants to join the project. A third child joined the group in September 2023, and all three children followed the project until the end in June 2023. They took part in work with the Council of Europe Child Advisory Team for the whole year and took active part in preparing consultations for other children, and carry out some of them. A considerable amount of child consultations were conducted, through different NGOs, government organisations and schools from around the country. The consultations were done through discussions mainly, and creative work.
Consultations with professionals were also conducted, either through discussions or in writing. All stakeholders were then given the opportunity to comment on the final report of the project, to point out if they found any errors or anything missing.
At the end of the data gathering, a group of experts from the ministries and the child-consultants evaluated the results and came up with their assessment of what the status of child participation is in Iceland.
