Skip to main content

You are here:  

  1. Home
  2. Pieces of Us

Pieces of Us

During 2021 and 2022, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office and its Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) produced the Irish Children’s Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. This forms part of the UN Committee’s examination of the status of and progress on children’s rights in Ireland.
The report raises and highlights the voices of the 5,515 children who took part in a national online survey and the 200 children who participated in in-depth focus group discussions. We submitted this report, Pieces of Us, to the UN Committee in August 2022. In September 2022, the YAP travelled to Geneva to present and discuss the report with members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

 

Message from the OCO YAP to all the children who took part in the survey and focus groups

We want you, every child who took part in the online survey and focus groups, to know that we will do everything we can to amplify your voices. We stand by you. We want you to know that we will get the world to understand what you have gone through. We want you to feel safe. You need to know that we are here to help.

You poured your heart and soul into all of this. Your honesty brought the whole report together. It took a lot of bravery. You have talked about some very personal experiences and that makes the report powerful.
You are all an inspiration, we listened to all of your experiences and the problems you face. We are inspired by the way you continue to go on. We could feel your personalities through the quotes. You expressed so many emotions and it makes us feel connected to you.

You are not alone. We read everything. We will fight for you.