| SUMMARY |
[Top] |
| In Iceland, a
children’s ombudsman office was set up by statute in 1995, linked to implementation
of the Convention. |
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
[Top] |
| Name of Office (In
National Language) |
Umbodsmadur Barna |
| Name of Office (In
English) |
The Ombudsman for Children |
| Postal Address |
Laugavegur 13
101 Reykjavik
Iceland |
| Visiting Address |
Laugavegur 13
101 Reykjavik
Iceland |
| Telephone |
(354) 552 8999 |
| Fax |
(354) 552 8966 |
| Email address |
ub@barn.is |
| WWW |
WWW.barn.is |
| Title of Ombudsman |
Ombudsman for children |
| Name of Ombudsman |
Thorhildur Lindal |
| Name of contact
person for ENOC |
Ásta Sólveig
Andrésdóttir,
lawyer |
| OFFICE
SIZE AND STRUCTURE |
[Top] |
| Number of staff members |
3 including the
Ombudsman herself |
| List of staff
members and functions |
Permanent staff: 1
lawyer and 1 Office Manager
The ombudsman also seeks the advice of specialists in various fields when he is working on
cases, such as lawyers, health workers or teachers |
| Summary of annual
Budget |
The
budget for 2002 is 18,1 million Icelandic crowns, whereby 14 million
Icelandic crowns is for saleries. |
| Principal sources
of funding |
Total
income by government grant. |
| HISTORY OF THE OFFICE |
[Top] |
| Date the office was established |
January 1st,
1995 |
| Initiator of the Ombudsman
office |
The Althing (The
Icelandic parliament) |
| Steps Involved in
establishing office |
| In 1994, the minister
of social affairs appointed a committee to prepare a bill about a special ombudsman for
children. The bill was legislated in January 1st 1995. At the same time the
president of Iceland appointed Ms. Thorhildur Lindal as the first ombudsman for Icelandic
children. |
| Major changes in
structure, focus and activities |
| The issues taken up
by the ombudsman are of a more general nature than was the case at the beginning; a
development which is more in accordance with the intent of the legislators. Furthermore
there has also been an increase in the number of cases initiated by the ombudsman herself. |
| Legislation
establishing the office |
Extract:
Article 3:"The Ombudsman for Children shall strive to ensure that the rights,
needs and interests of children are given full consideration by public authorities,
individuals, societies and other associations of individuals and representatives of legal
persons. In the course of his work the Ombudsman for Children shall give instructions and
make proposals for the furtherance of children’s interests in all walks of
life."
In particular the Ombudsman shall:
a) take the lead in promoting policymaking discussion on children’s matters among
the public;
b) put forward proposals for the improvement of legal procedures and administrative
instructions directly relevant to children;
c) seek to further observance of international agreements ratified by Iceland relative
to children’s rights and well-being, as well as to advocate the ratification of other
agreements on this subject;
d) take action with such means as are at his disposal when he considers that the
rights, needs and interests of children in society have been infringed through acts or
omissions of those listed in paragraph 1 above;
e) be instrumental in fostering public awareness of legislation and other rules
regarding children and young people and seek to encourage research in this area.
"Where the Ombudsman for Children considers that the provisions of sub-paragraph
d) above may have been broken he shall direct a reasoned opinion to the party involved
together with his proposals for remedy, if applicable". |
| Terms of reference
or Mission Statement |
|
| AIMS AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES |
[Top] |
| Actual examples of
the work that is presently being done Children and
bullying: Conference on October 17th 1998. Children and adults will be working
together in workshops, discussing what can be done to prevent bullying
Child pension: the right of children to recieve child
pension from their parents' pension funds. The regulations of the pension funds vary in
this respect.
Children and opinion polls: Children are required to
answer enquiry forms in school without their parents consent and without being told that
they have a right to refuse?
Children and the media: Different aspects concerning
media such as media violence, children and advertisements, x-rated videotapes in
circulation, how reporters treat children, children's right to privacy etc.
Data collection on children: A book with facts and
figures on the Icelandic child population, published in June this year. Updating will be
an ongoing project in the future.
School meals for children in Reykjavik: As of yet, no
school meals are served in primary schools in Reykjavik. At best, the only nourishment
many schoolchildren in Reykjavik get in an eight hour school day is a couple of sandwiches
and a carton of juice which they take with them from home in the beginning of the day.
Children and work: Employment terms for the children
who deliver newspapers. The Ombudsman is at present investigating their employment terms.
Children as the victims of a sexual offence: A
follow-up of a report submitted to the Minister of Justice. On the basis of the
conclusions in the report the Ombudsman recommended several law revisions to better ensure
the rights of the child that is the victim of a sexual offence. |
| Action with
Children |
 | Direct consultations with individual children |
| Community meetings with groups of children |
| National fora with children |
| Internet or other computer technology |
|
| Activities Office
undertakes |
| Influencing policy development at national level |
| Influencing policy development at state/provincial level |
| Influencing policy development at local/community level |
| Data collection on children |
| 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 |
| Children’s conferences. |
| Distribution of brochures about the Ombudsman to children in primary
schools |
|
| Areas of greatest
experience |
| The justice system |
| The school system |
|
| Principle themes of
the current year |
| Child participation |
| Freedom of expression |
| Access to appropriate information |
| Protection from harmful information |
| Protection from all forms of violence - With a special emphasis on
bullying in schools |
| Sexual exploitation |
| Children in institutions |
| Disabled children, including the
recognition of sign language for deaf children |
| Health - Better security and the prevention of accidents among children |
| Education - Improving the standardized tests in Icelandic primary schools |
|
| EVALUATIONS/STUDIES |
[Top] |
| Evaluation of the
effectiveness/impact of the office |
|
| Other publications
or studies available |
| Publications are available in Icelandic only
 | Annual Reports to the Prime minister for the
years 1995 to 2000 |
| "Bullying concerns everybody" A
report on a conference titled: Children wish to discuss
mobbing…with adults, held by the Ombudsman for Children in 1998.
The execution of this conference focused on the children being in
leading roles and on matters being discussed from their point of
view. Published 1999 |
| "Youth NetParliament of the Ombudsman for
Children in Iceland" Reports on the preparation and
activities of two Youth NetParliament's held in 1999 and 2001. The
NetParliament´s objective is to provide opportunity for the
representatives of the young generation to communicate in a
democratic fashion on pressing matters and to present their views
over the Internet. Two reports have been published, in 2000 and
2001. The one published in 2001 is also available in English. |
| "The Children's book of law" Experts
went through the whole body of Icelandic law in order to select law texts
that concern children in particular. These texts were rewritten so
that they would be understandable to children. This special Law book
was published on the Internet in 2001. |
| Violence in television". A study in violence in
Icelandic television
broadcasting before 22:00 pm during the period 2-15 September 1996" |
| "More sunshine – more pizzas". A study of teenage workers
attitudes to the summer jobs provided by the local communities in Iceland |
| "To be able to express your opinions to grown ups". A study of
primary school children’s position on whether they want to have more influence in
schools and in the local community. |
| Comparative study of the penal code and penal practice in Iceland and
three Scandinavian countries regarding sexual offences against children |
| :The human child is remarkable - facts and figures about children in
Iceland" (Icelandic title: Mannabörn eru merkileg - stađreyndir um börn og
unglinga). June 1998
The Icelandic title is a quotation from the poem S.S. Montclare by Icelandic
author Halldór Kiljan Laxness, winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1955. |
| "Children speak out" - a publication of presentations on
various children's issues given by children at three separate conferences held by the
Office of the Ombudsman for Children. published in March, 1998. |
|
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