UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) [NI]
Age Group: The UK Youth Parliament is aimed at young people aged 11-18 and there are currently 300+ Members of Youth Parliament across the UK.
Specific Interest Group: The UK Youth Parliament is there for all young people regardless of ethnicity, gender, disability, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, religion or political belief.
How are the Children and Young People involved?
Young People are involved at all levels of decision making in the UK Youth Parliament. There is a core staff to support the young people, such as the regional coordinators, but the committees, their sub groups and the Parliament itself are made up entirely of young people.
The young people decide on the campaign priorities for the manifesto and produce this themselves, they work on these campaigns throughout the year and attend sittings of various meetings to assess the progress of the UKYP work throughout the year. The UKYP is youth led and driven by the goals and aspirations of the young people involved both on a regional and national level.
Geographical Location
The UKYP in Northern Ireland is based at the Northern Ireland Youth Forum offices, but MYPs come from all across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
What is your understanding /definition of Participation with Children and Young People within the context of your work?
The UK Youth Parliament is commited to giving young people a voice in decision making. It is a powerful lobby group for young people and aims to ensure the voice of young people is listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people.
Why is Children’s and Young People’s Participation important to your organisation?
Our organisation is based on a commitment to ensuring Young People are active citizens in all walks of life, and are listened to and involved in discussions on all issues of concern to them.
Without the participation of young people the UK Youth Parliament would not exist and it is their commitment and drive to achieve their goals which keeps the UKYP running.
Do you use a specific model/guide/theme?
YES. We use the model of the UK Parliament at Westminister
What are the advantages of using your model/guide?
It gives Young People an accurate representation of parliamentary life
What are the disadvantages of using your model/guide?
As the number of seats allocated to each area is population based young people from some areas can feel at a disadvantage compared to more densely populated areas
Are there any reports etc. on your project/initiative that you would like to publicise/share? If so, email them or post them to us.
Please refer to the UKYP website where all of our annual reports and manifestos are available to download.
What did or what has the project/initiative achieved in terms of positive change for the organisation or/and the children and young people?
Recent campaigns have led to the establishment of a youth board to monitor the media’s portrayal of young people (in partnership with Ofcom and the Press Complaints Commission), and working with the Metropolitan Police Service to alter their Standard Operating Procedure on Stop and Search to ensure young people are treated with respect on the streets.
Any further /additional information on your project/initiative?
The UKYP was launched at the House of Commons in July 1999. We held our first sitting in February 2001 in London.
The 2006 Annual Sitting will take place in July (21-24) at Leicester University.
Contact:
UK Youth Parliament
Debbie Francey
C/O NIYF
24A Ann Street
Wilson’s Court
Belfast
BT1 4EF
E-mail:Debbie@niyf.org
Web: http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/
Tel: 028 9033 1990
