Nunavut
Jane Bates
Representative for Children and Youth
Representative for Children and Youth’s (RCY) Office
www.rcynu.ca
Mandate
The Representative for Children and Youth’s office advocates for the rights and interests of children and youth and ensures the Government of Nunavut is accountable and responsive to the needs of Nunavut’s young people.
All children have the right to be heard and participate in decisions that affect them.
Art. 12 – Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Representative for Children and Youth’s mandate includes the following key duties, as identified in the Representative for Children and Youth Act:
- Ensure children and youth’s rights and interests (individually and collectively) are protected and advanced.
- Ensure government departments and designated authorities hear and consider the views of children and youth on matters that affect them.
- Ensure children and youth can access government services and that government considers their concerns about those services.
- Help children, youth and their families communicate with government service providers to improve understanding between them.
- Inform the public about the rights and interests of children and youth and the Representative’s role.
- Give advice and recommendations to government on how to make its programs, services, laws and policies better for children and youth.
Services
The RCY’s office provides these four core services:
- Individual advocacy – working one-on-one with children and youth to ensure government respects and meets their rights.
- Systemic advocacy – working on broad issues that affect many children or youth
- Reviews of Critical Injuries and Deaths – reviewing the death or critical injury of a child or youth with the goal of preventing similar events in the future
- Public Awareness and Communications – reaching out to the public and the office’s many stakeholders to increase awareness and understanding of child rights and the office’s work.