Your Assembly - Your say, your Way: Presiding Officer unveils National Assembly Charter for youth engagement

​The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, will launch a Young person’s Charter at the Senedd on 16 July.

The Charter, which will be signed by Dame Rosemary and the leaders of all four party political groups, will underpin the Assembly’s commitment to increasing its engagement with the young people of Wales.

This follows a recent consultation with young people about ways to encourage and support them to get involved in the work of the Assembly.

More than 3,000 young people responded to that consultation – the biggest ever response to an Assembly consultation.

“It is clear from the responses to our consultation that there is a huge appetite from young people across Wales to have their say on the issues that matter to them," said Dame Rosemary.

“And my commitment today is that we will make it our business to provide every young person in Wales with the opportunity to contribute to the work of the Assembly.

“This isn’t a token gesture – it won’t simply be an annual event when we focus on Wales’s youth; the young people of Wales will be placed firmly at the heart of all our engagement activities.

“The Assembly Commission has now agreed a new vision for youth engagement. We want the Assembly to be seen as a world leader in youth engagement as young people are enabled to have their opinions on the issues that matter to them heard and valued at the heart of Welsh democracy.

“This work is underpinned by a new Charter which forms our contract with the young people of Wales. It sets out what young people can expect from the Assembly, and what we expect from them.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders of all parties represented in the Senedd for joining me in signing up to this commitment.”

The Assembly Commission’s approach has three key parts:

• reaching out: We will make sure that, wherever they are and whatever their background, young people in Wales can discover information about the work the Assembly is doing so they can decide how it is relevant to their passions and interests;

• enabling debate. We will provide a variety of ways for young people to take part in our work which are fun, inspiring and tailored; and

• feedback. We will explain to young people how their contributions are making a difference so that they and others are inspired to engage further.

The Assembly Commission is putting in place a number of service improvements to help achieve this vision.

They include:

• bringing in youth worker skills to complement the existing expertise in our Education and Outreach teams;

• strengthening our networks of youth groups and other organisations.

• establishing a programme of events to put young people at the heart of our engagement work;

• offering more engagement outside the school environment to meet our determination to involve young people from harder-to-reach groups;

• developing toolkits to bring together best practice and advice for Members and staff, working as committees as well as in constituencies.; and

• making the most of our online presence by using www.yourassembly.org as a hub of information and discussion, as well as finding new ways to communicate through our social media channels.

The Charter will be launched with a series of events with young people, from across Wales, at the National Assembly on 16 July.

These include:

For further information visit the Your Assembly: Your say, Your Way website by clicking here.​