| SUMMARY |
| The Mannerheim League
for Child Welfare, a NGO, maintains a Children’s Ombudsman Office. |
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
| Name of Office (In
National Language) |
Lapsiasiamies Mannerheim
Lastensuojeluliitto |
| Name of Office (In
English) |
Children’s Ombudsman
The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare |
| Postal Address |
P.O. Box 141
FIN-00531
Helsinki
Finland |
| Visiting Address |
None |
| Telephone |
(+358) 9 34811 470, exchange
34811 500 |
| Fax |
(+358) 9 34811 509 |
| Email address |
mll.helena.molander@kolumbus.fi |
| WWW |
None |
| Title of Ombudsman |
The Children’s Ombudsman |
| Name of Ombudsman |
Mrs. Helena Molander, Master of
Laws |
| Name of contact
person for ENOC |
Mrs. Helena Molander |
| OFFICE SIZE AND STRUCTURE |
| Number of staff members |
9 |
| List of staff
members and functions |
Mrs. Helena Molander
Ms Seija Sinikallio
and seven (7) lawyers network in Finland.
& Child line, about 300 counsellors |
The Children’s
Ombudsman
Secretary |
The Whole
Administration specialists (education, psychology etc.) and regional offices of the League
are available to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman co-operates closely with the Child and Youth Phone of MLCW (National
network. About 40,000 calls/Year) |
| Summary of annual
Budget |
Children's Ombudsman
and the lawyer network about 500.000 FIM
Child line about 700.000 FIM
10% administrative costs |
| Principal sources
of funding |
|
| HISTORY OF THE OFFICE |
| Date the office was established |
20th November 1981
(League 1920) |
| Initiator of the Ombudsman
office |
The Manager of the
Uusimaa District Office of the Mannerheim League, Mrs Marja Wermundsen. |
| Steps Involved in
establishing office |
| August - November
1981 planning work, 20 November 1981 the Children's Ombudsman was started |
| Major changes in
structure, focus and activities |
1993 The work and
international cooperation against CSEC starts
1993 The work on sex crime legislation starts
1994 Development of the lawyer network starts
1994 Cooperation with Ecpat Europe groups starts
1995 The Children's Ombudsman was personally heard by the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child in November 1995 in Geneva - an on-going follow-up work
1996 The participation in ENOC cooperation starts in Geneva June 1996
1996 Research work on Child pornography starts
1997 Children and the internet programme starts
1996 A book on sexual abuse and exploitation of children was written by the Ombudman
Helena Molander
1997 Nomination of the MLL Committee on the Rihjts of the Child to support the work of the
Children's Ombudsman |
| Legislation
establishing the office |
| Independent
Ombudsman. Based on the Finnish legislation concerning legal assistance and consultation
and on the principles of modern citizens society. |
| Terms of reference
or Mission Statement |
The Children’s
Ombudsman sees that the following human rights of children and young people are upheld:
The right to be heard wherever their own well-being is concerned
The right to a status of their own in court, defined by the law
The right to physical and mental inviolability
|
| AIMS AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES |
| Action with
Children |
 | Direct consultations with individual children |
| Telephone hotline |
| Community meetings with groups of children |
| Internet or other computer technology |
|
| Activities Office
undertakes |
| Influencing policy development at national level |
| Direct contact with Minister of Justice, Social Welfare, Parliament etc. |
| Influencing policy development at state/provincial level (The MLL
District Offices, 13) |
| Influencing policy development at local/community level ( the local
chapters, about 500, of the MLL) |
| Data collection on children (the central office of the MLL) |
| Every five years Child Report |
| Monitoring the impact of laws/policies on children |
| Monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child |
| Individual casework |
| Education/awareness raising on children’s rights |
| Training of professionals or other groups on children's rights |
|
| Areas of greatest
experience |
| The justice system |
| Social Services |
|
| Principles themes
of the current year |
| Child participation |
| Protection from harmful information |
| Protection from all forms of violence |
| Sexual exploitation |
| Children in institutions |
| Juvenile justice |
|
| EVALUATIONS/STUDIES |
| Evaluation of the
effectiveness/impact of the office |
- annual report to
the MLL
- the Norwegian Committee NOU 1995:26 Barneombud og barndom I Norge, (2.4
Barneombudsliknende ordninger I andre nordiske lasnd: Finland) : language Norwegian
- "Den finske Barnombudsmannen kan etter dette sies á ha en omfarrende kontroll - og
overväkerfunksjon I forhold til det nasjonale og internasjonale regelverk pä det
barnererrslige omrädet, og i for hold til forvaltningspraksis og annen praksis."
- The Norwegian Committee NOU 1995:26 had the following to say about the Work of the
Finnish Children's Ombudsman: "The Finnish Children's Ombudsman has an extensive
control - and monitoring function in relation to the national and international regulation
systems concerning children's rights and their practical application." |
| Other publications
or studies available |
- Helena Molander.
"A Child Against the State: Task of the Children’s Ombudsman" (E. Verhellen
(ed.), Monitoring Children’s Rights, 575-586. Kluwer Law International. Printed in
the Netherlands.
- Helena Molander. "Child of the mercy of adults" (Book).- how can we protect
children from sexual abuse and exploitation" (240 pages) Otava Publishing company,
Helsinki 1996 (Finnish) - a guide for parents and educators
- Children and the Internet, brochure with netsmart rules, 1998 (Finnish and Klokt I
nätet in Swedish) Internet Action Finland project (1997-1998) EU-DAPHNE - a guide to
parents, educators and children. |
