Young Advisers of the Ombudsman for Children

Investigating children’s views is a statutory task of the Ombudsman for Children.

The task of the Ombudsman for Children is to keep in touch with children and young people and to relay their views to decision-makers and adults working with children, for example. The Ombudsman for Children performs this duty through the Young Adviser activities. The activities are constantly developed to make sure that the views of as many children as possible are heard and taken into consideration in decision-making.

How are children involved in meetings?

Children and young people serve as advisers to the Ombudsman for Children, whose views are explored at meetings. Each year, 6–10 meetings are organised with different groups of children. The main purpose of the meetings is to hold space for the children’s own views. The discussions can be supported, for example, by group work, drawing assignments or images. The children are informed in advance about the meeting contents and practices.

The meetings are organised in places where the children spend their time, such as early childhood education and care, schools, youth centres and services. Employees of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children are always present at the meetings.

The Young Advisers operate on three levels.

Theme meetings

At theme meetings, the children’s views are explored on specific themes, such as the Ombudsman’s focus of the year. Child groups representing children of different ages and living around Finland or those linked to the theme in various ways are invited to the theme meetings.  The child groups are typically met with once.

In 2026, the Ombudsman for Children’s focus of the year was the economy. At the theme meetings, discussions with the children addressed what money means to children, what they spend their money on and areas on which they feel more money should be spent in Finland. The meeting participants included primary school pupils from Espoo, lower secondary school pupils from Oulu and young people studying in upper secondary education from Kurikka. The meetings took place on the school premises.

Young Advisers teams

The Young Advisers teams consist of groups of children that are met with 3–5 times. The team addresses issues raised by the children themselves. The teams particularly involve children who are vulnerable in some way.

In 2024, the Ombudsman for Children set up a team for young people with personal experience of substitute care in child welfare. Organised in cooperation with the Turku SOS Developer Youth, the team included seven young people who met at four team meetings. The team discussed substitute care and drew up recommendations on how the rights of the child could best be implemented in substitute care. The young people from the team also took part in the meetings with the European Young Advisers.

Visits

Visits are individual meetings with groups of children to discuss issues topical for the children. The visits can be carried out remotely, as in-person visits by the Ombudsman for Children to the children, or as visits by groups of children to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children.

In 2025, the Ombudsman for Children visited the Seta office in Helsinki and had a meeting with representatives of Seta’s Youth Committee. The visit included discussing the situation of LGBTQ youths, the injustices they experience and the things that are going well.

What are children’s views used for?

At the meetings, children and young people can share their views and influence matters important to them. The Ombudsman for Children relays children’s views to the adults who make decisions about children in many ways. For example, the information obtained from the meetings is presented in statements, initiatives, opinions, presentations, publications, stakeholder meetings and the Office’s communications without disclosing anyone’s name or other personal data.

A memorandum is also prepared based on the discussions held during the meetings, and it is sent to participants for comments and supplementation.

In 2025, the Ombudsman for Children met with children in Turku, Kuhmo, Ristijärvi and Kotka. Equality of education was discussed at the meetings. A summary of the meetings with the children was published in the annual reportof the Ombudsman, which was handed over to the Government.

In 2026, the Ombudsman for Children organised a team with children with an immigrant background. The team discussed discrimination and racism. The team members’ views were shared in a statement submitted to the Parliamentary Employment and Equality Committee on the Parliamentary Report of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman.

In 2026, the Ombudsman for Children’s report was submitted to Parliament. The report presented children’s views collected by the Ombudsman from meetings with children and young people in the period 2022–2025.

In 2024, the Ombudsman for Children’s team included young people with experience of substitute care in child welfare. In the team, the young people made recommendations for substitute care. A brochure was created based on the young people’s recommendations, and subsequently distributed to child welfare professionals at the National Child Welfare Conference.