Ombudsman for Children in Finland

It is the job of the Ombudsman for Children to increase awareness of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A brochure on the Convention has already been released in seven languages: Finnish, Swedish, English, North Sámi, Inari Sámi, Skolt Sámi, Romany, sign language and Russian.

Last year, the Ombudsman for Children organised a high-profile campaign together with the Child, Youth and Family Policy Programme and with NGOs to mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention. A recent survey shows that 72% of Finns are now aware of the Convention, compared with 54% a year earlier. A national communications strategy on the rights of the child is being created as a follow-up to the awareness campaign.

A national campaign to reduce corporal punishment is also in preparation. Corporal punishment was forbidden by law in Finland in 1984, and in the past two decades the incidence of whipping, slapping and hair-pulling as punishments for children has halved. The Ombudsman for Children is involved in the process to explore how this positive trend could be perpetuated.