Children and young people’s participation and influence

Local and regional participation and influence

It is primarily in the municipalities that children and young people have the opportunity to affect their own daily lives and futures through participation and influence in planning and decision-making processes.

The success of efforts to provide children and young people with influence in their own local communities is dependent on a number of factors.

These include clear guidelines and terms of reference for the work, contact with and support from the municipal administration and politicians, dedicated resources, genuine influence in individual cases, clear feedback routines, contact with other local activities for young people and up-to-date information on what is happening in the municipality.

The information should be adapted to children and young people and be easily available on separate web pages for young people or on the municipality’s website.

The website Ung.no provides a list of youth councils in Norway.

Youth organisations

Youth organisations occupy a central place in the Ministry’s work on promoting the influence and involvement of children and young people.

They function as communication channels for children and young people and as dialogue partners for the Ministry in central child and youth policy issues.

Moreover, youth organisations constitute a major recreational arena for children and young people and a contribute constructively to work on creating sound living conditions for children and young people in Norway.

The Ministry provides basic support for national and international work in voluntary youth organisations. The purpose of the basic support is to facilitate participation in organisations by children and young people.

The basic support is intended to encourage national and/or international involvement and sharing of responsibility by the organisations and to secure the role of the organisations as an arena for democracy and participation in decision-making.

Grants to youth organisations are administered by the Grant Allocation Committee, whose secretariat is at the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs.

The grants are regulated by the Regulations concerning grants to voluntary youth organisations of 29 November 2007, amended on 15 September 2009.

The project support scheme Mangfold og inkludering [Diversity and Inclusion] was set up in 2008 as an extension of the European youth campaign All Different – All Equal, and the support scheme Idébanken [the Ideas Bank].

Mangfold og inkludering is intended for children and young people who wish to focus on diversity, attitudes and participation. The Norwegian Youth Council (LNU) administers the support scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Children and Families.

Further information:

• Norwegian Youth Council – Diversity and Inclusion
• Regulations concerning voluntary youth organisations (Norwegian only)
• Work on youth councils

The Ministry of Children and Families has a continuous focus on the rights of children and young people to influence social developments and their own daily lives.

The Ministry promotes these the rights through contact with municipalities, various public bodies and voluntary organisations. A major element of this work involves encouragement of exchange of ideas and experience.