Reflecting on our Successful 2023 AGM

Posted on by Iwona

On the 28th of June 2023, Carmarthenshire Youth Council hosted their Annual General Meeting 2023 in the Chambers at the County Hall. As the Chairperson of the Council, it was my pleasure to chair the meeting and to share with everyone the highlights and achievements that we’d accomplished over the past year. This year’s AGM was a special meeting for us as we celebrate our twentieth anniversary as CYC. Established in 2003, the council has made significant progress over the past two decades, and therefore it was so important to recognise this.

Reflecting on Our Progress

In achieving the first full year after the lockdown, I reflected on how we’d fostered a new sense of teamwork and collaboration which helped with amplifying the voices of the youth across the county. These skills which we had gained from residentials further enable us to rely on each other, support each other, and celebrate each other’s successes, strengthening the unity within our council. Working together with the participation team on a local and national level, I stated how it was an honour to see our projects started in the lockdown period come to life.

Furthermore, I expressed my privilege of working with such a talented and diverse group of individuals who have contributed their time, energy and expertise to our council and our community over the past year. 

Celebrating our Work

Our agenda for the evening was filled with exciting items that showcased our hard work and dedication. We presented a compilation of all our projects, with updates from our members, and an awards ceremony. This gave us the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the progress that we’d made in our various sub-groups such as our most recent project “Never Silence the Violence”, as well as with partner organisations such as Youth Parliaments.

Looking Towards the Future

As the Chairperson, I presented our plans for the future, which includes a Children’s Rights Ambassadors Training Session in collaboration with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales team. I also announced plans for our upcoming conference to celebrate our twentieth anniversary, centred around children’s rights. Additionally, I gave an insight into our very first local consultation that aims to understand and address the important issues faced by young people in our county. The future for the council looks just as exciting as the past, and I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for us.

Awards and Recognition

The AGM also served as a platform to honour individuals who have made significant contributions to our Youth Council. We presented awards for CPR training, Development of the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Board Training Animation, as well as recognition to our former members. Our previous chairpersons and members have been a pivotal part of youth voice across the county, influencing key decisions made by adults and contributed so much to our Youth Council. We feel that all their time spent volunteering should be applauded, to remind them that what they achieved was highly valued, and that they should be proud for their commitment and dedication.

Concluding the evening

To conclude the AGM, Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, Councillor Darren Price delivered his closing speech, highlighting the importance of youth engagement and the positive impact we have on the community. As we look towards the future, we remain driven and committed to making a difference in the lives of children and young people in Carmarthenshire.

Following this, we had a small buffet, which gave us the opportunity to get to know the cabinet members and representatives from the County Council better. We were praised about how our AGM was a tremendous success, and we hope to continue to pave the way for youth voice across the county, making a brighter and more inclusive future for all young people.

By Lucas Palenek

Magda, Representing Carmarthenshire in Chamber

Posted on by Iwona

The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) provides opportunities for young people aged 11 to 18 to use their voices in creative ways to bring about social change. Decision-makers across the UK use UKYP as a mechanism to seek the views of young people.

Magda Smith was elected as a UKYP representative during CYC AGM in April 2022. Her job is to represent the views of young people in Carmarthenshire to decision-makers on a local, regional, and national level, Magda said she was “excited for this opportunity and couldn’t wait to see where it takes her”. Since then, she has been actively involved in the program, using her elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning.

After the Make Your Mark 2022 Consultation, Health and well-being are voted the top issue. Together with other MYPs Magda worked hard organising and running Health and Wellbeing Focus Groups in Carmarthenshire to further understand the issue.

MYPs voted to shortlist the 5 Health and Wellbeing topics for debate at the House of Commons Sitting. She said: “It is important for me if I am to represent the voices of young people in Carmarthenshire, to the best of my ability, to understand more about the issue that we are focusing on to make a difference to our county”.

In November 2022, Magda, among other Members of the Youth Parliament shortlisted the 5 Health & well-being subtopics for debate at the House of Commons Sitting. At the sitting, MYPs voted for the Health / Cost of Living subtopic to be the focus of the 2023 campaign. After the debate at the House of Commons Sitting, she said “That was an amazing experience, I can’t wait till next year to start moving forward on the campaign for the topic we voted on being health/cost of living”. 

 A Day to Celebrate Children’s Rights

Posted on by Iwona
Ending Physical Punishment in Wales

Trigger warning – Talking about physical punishment of children at home and in schools.

21 March 2022 is an important day for the rights of children and young people in Wales. This is the day when physical punishment of children will be illegal in Wales. Legislation put in place by the Welsh Parliament to prevent physical punishment of children, often called the ‘anti-smacking’ law. According to the Welsh Government they are putting this law in place to “protect children and their rights, to give them the best start in life”.

This is a significant and important thing that the Welsh Government has done, by giving legal rights to the small and most vulnerable in our society, they are protecting their futures. International research shows that smacking, hitting, slapping, and shaking a child leaves its mark not only physically but mentally. The emotional trauma is extreme, and a smacked child may see physical violence as ‘normal’, and the ‘smack’ circuit continues for generations. As members of the Welsh Youth Parliament, we discussed the ‘anti-smacking’ law and cast a secret ballot. A majority (70%) of members voted in favour of the ‘anti-smacking’ law, and a majority of children and young people across Wales support the safeguarding of their rights.

All over the world more and more democratic countries make physical punishment of children illegal. 63 countries have done so but many countries are still old fashioned, only 14% of the world’s children population has been protected so far. Sweden was the first country to stop corporal punishment in 1979. Legally in the United Kingdom, only Wales and Scotland have made it against the law.

The habit of smacking children goes back to dark times where physical punishment of children took place not only in the home but in schools. For example, during a time when the Welsh language was banned in schools. Pupils used to receive the cane at the end of the day, if they were the last person to receive the ‘Welsh Not’ plaque, for speaking Welsh. Fortunately, those days have passed because of the effects on the child are terrible. But we do not have to go far to see when the cane was used. In the United Kingdom the cane was not made illegal in state schools until 1987, and it was not illegal until 1997 for private schools. So, this bad legacy has been passed on until the end of the last century and attitudes towards punishing children are still not completely taboo.

So, if someone says that the physical punishment of children is still right inside the walls of a home, what should you say? Many say that physical punishment is fine because it shows that you love your child because you learn a lesson (no crossing the road when a car is coming). In response to that I would say that there are many better ways to learn that lesson, you can simply say that verbally. One smack can turn into many things, the boundary between a loving smack and a non-loving smack does not exist, it is a form of physical violence.

Authorities need to do everything possible to protect children from violence, abuse, and neglect, this is what Article 19 of the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child) says. I can be assured that Wales is one step closer to making the country safer for children and young people and putting the rights really into place in legislation, 21 March 2022 is a day to celebrate! I am looking forward to working to improve the lives of others facing domestic violence, inside the Domestic Abuse/ Never Silence the Violence subgroup of Carmarthenshire Youth Council.

Cai Phillips

Make Your Mark 2022

Posted on by Iwona
 
Have you had your say yet?

Every year we encourage and support young people in Carmarthenshire to take part in a national decision-making process. Make Your Mark is an opportunity for 11-18-year olds across the UK to have their say and begin their democratic journey by voting on the issues they want to change.

The results of Make Your Mark will influence hundreds of projects and campaigns led by and for young people across the UK!

Members of Youth Parliament and other young people in the community will campaign and research the most voted for topics, to influence the UK Parliament and their local representatives; ensuring that the views of young people are listened to by decision makers.

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR MARK!

Follow the link below to cast your vote and to make a difference!

https://www.makeyourmark.youthimpact.app/register/me

Make Your Mark, Make a Difference!

WHAT IS COP26, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

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The biggest and the most important climate-related conference on the planet.

The UK Government will host COP 26 in Glasgow from November 1 to November 12, 2021. More than 30,000 people are expected to attend formal events in the “blue zone,” where climate experts, activists, policymakers, and world leaders will debate how to achieve global climate progress.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend side events in the ‘green zone,’ a citizen meeting space where NGOs (non-governmental organizations), organisations, and national representatives interact with one another and the general public on topics like environmental awareness, social equality, and reflections on the COP proceedings.

Why is it important?

The goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is to “stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” and the Conference of Parties, or COP, is the decision-making body in charge of monitoring and reviewing the convention’s implementation.

All countries will have the opportunity to finalise their long-term climate goals and put the Paris Agreement into action in their home countries. This will ensure a specific budget to assist people dealing with the effects of climate change (for example, rising sea levels destroying homes and livelihoods).

For more information visit :

HOME – UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021 (ukcop26.org)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)

IPCC is a United Nations intergovernmental organisation established in 1988 with the mission of providing objective scientific knowledge critical to understanding human-induced climate change, its environmental, political, and economic implications, and hazards, as well as potential response options.

The most recent report released (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf)  found that CO2 levels in the atmosphere were higher in 2019 than in at least 2 million years, while methane and nitrous oxide levels were higher than in the previous 800,000 years. Global surface temperatures have risen faster since 1970 than in any previous 50-year period in at least the last 2,000 years. Temperatures over the last decade (2011–2020), for example, have surpassed those of the previous multi-century warm episode, which occurred approximately 6,500 years ago, according to the paper.

According to the IPCC, the 2°C global warming target will be exceeded in the twenty-first century. Unless significant and deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur over the next decades, the 2015 Paris Agreement (https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement) goals will be “beyond reach.”

Some climate change impacts, such as heat, flooding from major precipitation events, and sea-level rise in coastal cities, may be exacerbated in cities, according to experts.

Furthermore, scientists from the IPCC warn that low-probability events such as ice sheet collapse or abrupt changes in ocean circulation cannot be ruled out.

Why should we care?

COP 26 gives young people a chance to have their say on what should be implemented and gives way to new ideas to be created.  Our voice is crucial to understanding climate change and the effects it could have on out future.

Welsh Leaders attending COP will answer your burning questions on the 10th of November, live from Green Zone.  To put in your questions follow this link : https://forms.gle/gSYC6tYUVMkEyTjf9

Arwen Skinner