We hosted our Annual Youth Conference on, Wednesday, 25 October at Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli. 160 young people, teachers and practitioners attended the Youth Conference this year, in what is the 20th Anniversary of the Carmarthenshire Youth Council, with discussions and workshops taking place to celebrate and raise awareness of Children’s’ Rights.
Delegates heard from the Children’s Commissioner, Rocio Cifuentes, who, as a guest speaker, spoke of the importance of listening to our young people. Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, Cllr. Glynog Davies emphasised to the young people that their rights are reflected in the vision and policies of the Local Authority and that he, as does the Children’s Commissioner, has an open door policy to listen and advise our future generation.
The Conference, named “RIGHTS TOGETHER: A Celebration of Children’s Rights” is Carmarthenshire first Annual Youth Conference since the pandemic and has been organised in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council Youth Support Services. We invited young people and practitioners from Secondary Schools and Youth Projects from across the county to take part in the event with the aim to bring together services and organisations to create an empowering and informative event for young people aged 11-18 years old within Carmarthenshire.
We held a formal Conference in the morning, where we ran workshops and discussions exploring what is a Right and an energetic Rights Auction which introduced the 42 Articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or UNCRC for short. Working with partners, service areas, projects and organisations we hosted a ‘Showcase’ during the afternoon where young people took part and got involved in a range of fun, informative and engaging activities around Children’s Rights. We are extremely grateful to all the organisations, projects and service areas that supported this part of the event and played an important part in making the event such a success.
Thomas Vaughan-Jones, Youth Conference Planner said “I was really looking forward to the ‘Rights Together’ conference! It was a fantastic celebration of young voices and the importance of children’s rights. I hope the young people, teachers and professionals have leave the event feeling inspired and empowered to create positive change. It’s was a day filled with learning, and fun; and I’m so proud to have been a part of it!”
Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, Cllr. Glynog Davies said: “It was a privilege to be present at this year’s conference, to meet with our young people and hear their views on the issue of children’s rights. It is so very important to celebrate and raise awareness of children’s rights, in our goal to make a better Carmarthenshire for young people. Thank you to each and every one that attended our Youth Conference today and for your valued contribution.”
For more information you can follow the conversation on Social Media using #RightsTogether
