Ombudsman for Children in Finland

The 1990s saw a number of initiatives by Parliament towards the setting up of the post of the Ombudsman. In 1995 the government presented a report on child policy to parliament, and Parliament, in its response, tasked the government with the equitable development of the position of children, young people and families with children. In its report the parliamentary committee for social affairs and health backed the creation of an Ombudsman for Children.

Parliament's first step in improving the monitoring of children's rights was to strengthen the resources of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The issue of child rights is currently a key area of legislative monitoring by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Parliamentary Ombudsman's annual report carries an assessment of the implementation of children's rights. Matters concerning the implementation of children's rights investigated at the Parliamentary Ombudsman's own initiative emphasise inspections of official activities.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

The implementation of the UN Convention is monitored by the Geneva-based UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Countries that have ratified the Convention submit reports to the Committee every five years on their legislative, legal and administrative activities to carry out the rights detailed in the UN Convention. In dealing with the reports the Committee hears statements from both governments and NGOs, and then adopts country-specific recommendations.

In its recommendations concerning Finland's second report, in October 2000, the Committee suggested that Finland should seriously consider establishing an independent Ombudsman for Children. The Committee underscored the positive experiences of other Nordic countries in having such a post. It also proposed that the will should be generated in government on dealing with children's issues. At the same time, the Committee lauded the creation of mechanisms among both ministries and central and local authorities for coordinating joint work.

Finnish Committee on the Rights of the Child 2003-2004

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health set up an interim Committee on the Rights of the Child on 21 March 2003. This was the representative national body require by the final document adopted by the Special Session on Children of the UN General Assembly. The chair of the Commitrtee was the member of Parliament Eva Biaudet.

The first task of the Committee was to make a proposal on the mandate of an Ombudsman for Children and for the coordination of child and family issues. The proposal was submitted to the Minister of Health and Social Services Liisa Hyssälä on 21 June 2004. The Committee later prepared a broad action programme A Finland Fit for Children, which also set the groundwork of the tasks of the Ombudsman.
Establishment of the post of Ombudsman

In 2002 the government presented a report to parliament on the welfare of children and young people. In its own accompanying report the Parliamentary committee on social affairs and health reiterae its call for the creation of the post of Ombudsman for Children.

The creation of the post was assured when it was written into the programmes of the government of Anneli Jäätteenmäki and then of Matti Vanhanen (17 April 2003 and 24 June 2003). In addition, issues concerning child and family policy were to be dealt with in a special ministerial committee on social policy.

On the basis of the proposal of the Committee chaired by Eva Biaudet, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health prepared a government draft proposal to Parliament for a law on the creation of the post of Ombudsman. The document supporting the draft law weighed two alternative forms of work to be carried out by the Ombudsman: a post with the role of a predictive influence in social development policy, or with a investigating function that sought to safeguard individual childrens rights in difficult situations.

The draft law propsed that the Ombudsman would be a national and state official, independent of government, who would have a predictive influence at the general social development policy and legislative levels. The proposal suuggested that an official with an investigative function at the individual level would also be needed in Finland. Such activity is, however, difficult to combine within the same Ombudsmans mandate. An investigative-type function would require regional and local back-up.

It was decided that the draft law would leave the overseeing of adherence to legislation on children´s rights to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Ombudsman for Childrens responsibilities, however, were to deal with having a preemptive influence on planned legislation or on other regulations affecting the situation of children.

The law on the creation of the Ombudsman for Children came into force 1 September 2005. The Ombudsman started work the same day.