The Nordic Council of Ministers and children and young people

The objective of efforts relating to children and young people in the Nordic Region is to establish good living conditions and improve their opportunity for influence.

The right to good living conditions and influence must be promoted equally for all children and young people regardless of their gender, ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic background, age, place of origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

The council of ministers’ advisory and co-ordinating body for matters relating to children and young people is the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People (NORDBUK). NORDBUK operates in all areas of co-operation within the Nordic Council of Ministers. Find out more about NORDBUK:

On the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Nordic Council of Ministers will work to protect and promote the rights of children and young people and to provide opportunities for them to exercise these rights and participate in society. This means that all children and young people in the Nordic Region shall be entitled to enjoy a decent standard of living and to have influence over their own lives, regardless of their gender, gender identity or expression, ethnic background, religion or other expression of faith, disability, sexual orientation, or age. All children and young people have the right to social and economic security, to good physical and mental health, to recreational and cultural opportunities, to an identity and language, and to opportunities to learn and develop. All children and young people must be given the chance to have influence over their own lives, their immediate environment, and society at large.

The overarching goals of the strategy are: (1) the better integration of the perspective of children’s rights and young people into the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers as a whole, thus better highlighting and taking into consideration the voices of children and young people; and (2) a greater focus by the Nordic Council of Ministers on the three strategic focus areas that this strategy identifies as central to its efforts up to 2022.

The strategic focus areas are:

• enhanced support and inclusion for disadvantaged children and young people;
• continued collaboration with and support of civil society; and
• improved knowledge-sharing and efforts to enhance skills.

Read the comprehensive strategy:

The action plan describes how the Nordic Council of Ministers will work to achieve the objectives of the vision through a series of initiatives linked to the vision’s three strategic priorities: a green Nordic Region, a competitive Nordic Region, and a socially sustainable Nordic Region. There are 12 objectives linked to the strategic priorities. The strategic priorities and objectives govern all the activities of the Nordic Council of Ministers over the next four years. The action plan is divided into 12 sections, each one linked to one of the 12 objectives.