Irish Association: North-South: Social Challenges and Solutions

Katy Radford. Save the Children. 16 October 2004

Ireland, both north and south has a higher proportion of children per family when compared with those in England, Scotland and Wales.

In Northern Ireland 36.5% of households have children,

and young people under the age of 18 constitute (27%) of the population numbering 451,483 of out of a total Population of 1,706,506 .

In the Republic, young people comprise (%) 1,140,600 out of total of 3,978,900.

Now that the moat of Leeds Castle has been breached and the slings, arrows and the outrageous mis-fortunes of our MLAs and civil servants are being mobilised to bargain the terms of our fragile peace process,

Northern Ireland is again varyingly described in banner headlines as

•  no longer at war

•  sustaining peace

•  emerging into a post-conflict situation

•  being in a transitional phase.

Whatever our undetermined diplomatic status is, I am mindful of the words of Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of the Save the Children organisation that was established to support children in the aftermath of World War I.

“Every generation of children, offers mankind anew the possibility of rebuilding his ruin of a world.“ Eglantyne Jebb 1929 Save the Child!

In this address I aim to present an overview of some of the issues with which the charity is actively engaged with in Northern Ireland, with a view to considering how we are working to influence government and communities to apply the opportunity presented by Jebb's proposal.

The premise for our commitment to work in Northern Ireland and in the 70 countries in which we are operational (which does not include the Republic of Ireland), is to proactively work with vulnerable children moving their issues to the top of all social, political and economic agendas. Jebb's somewhat post-apocalyptic sentiments, provide additional incentive to all those working to further the human rights agenda in the whole of Ireland.

While children north and south currently protected and constrained within a broad framework of domestic legislation and policy, it is pertinent to remind ourselves of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement's reference that consideration be given to an all-Ireland charter to reflect, endorse and safeguard the rights of everyone living on the island.

As politicians and administrators negotiate appropriate methodologies for developing new and strengthening existing partnerships, there are a variety of rights organisations, alliances and coalitions in existence both north and south of which Save the Children are members, that continue to explore opportunities to develop this and other forms of ‘joined-up' practice for the benefit of all children.

But despite the initiation of a variety of cross border bodies and collaborative projects, this vision appears more of a mirage when we examine the challenges faced by those committed to developing comprehensive inter-agency working practices between and within the two jurisdictions.

The base-line from which the bulk of this work stems is grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The most influential international standard setter since 1989 when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly, the convention's roots can be traced directly back to Jebb's pioneering work and the declaration of Geneva. It is the most widely sanctioned human rights treaty in history and has now been ratified by all but two countries in the world. (The USA and Somalia remain the exceptions).

It remains the most comprehensive statement of children's rights providing an internationally implicit recognition of their particular vulnerabilities and the corresponding need for special care and assistance.

Save the Children areas of work

The UNCRC, provides the weft in the weave of all Save the Children's research, policy and practice based work.

Its application is the key framework in the two most recent and highly influential policy initiatives to affect children and young people that we have been directly involved in developing, namely:

• The keystone for the work of the newly appointed Commissioner for Children and Young People. Many of the issues he has identified as priorities have been informed by Save the Children work,

And

• The 10 year children's strategy being developed by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. This is due for formal consultation in 2005, and Save the Children provided an intensive children's rights training for the statutory sector, academics and ngos involved in its design

In addition, the organisation continues to use the Convention's standards to lobby for a separate section in the proposed Single Equality Bill and the Bill of Rights that will specifically safeguard the rights of children and young people.

Save the Children and the Institute of Irish Studies at Queens are currently hosting a seminar series “Righting the Wrongs: Children's Rights in Northern Ireland”. The series has been put together as a means of assessing to what extent our social services, legal, health and educational systems are adequately child's rights proofed and to evaluate and disseminate information as to the reach of the convention.

Authors have been invited to frame their papers within one or more articles of the convention.

The participants, who come from across a number of academic and practice-based disciplines, have drawn on longitudinal and action research.

They consider either potential violations or acknowledge good practice within a variety of settings both statutory and voluntary, when focussing on either service provision to or the protection and participation of young people in decisions that affect them.

Some of the areas of Save the Children's work that are under consideration at the series are clearly in keeping with this year's conference theme of Social Challenges and Solution.

We consider the experiences of children with whom we work and who are at particular risk of social exclusion due to policies affecting health, housing and education, and these themes cut across a variety of the papers that are being presented.

It would stretch the limitations of time to discuss all the areas covered by the series, however four particular categories of children at risk of marginalisation whose experiences are specifically discussed in the papers spring to mind.

These include:

•  Those who are Refugees or who are seeking asylum.

•  Young People Living in extreme poverty.

•  Those who are users of mental health service provision (24 & 39).

•  Those within the criminal justice system.

I would like to briefly raise some of the issues that these young people face and that the seminar series will provide an opportunity to reflect and debate:

Clearly the service provisions that affect the rights and needs of those children who fall into the category of Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children, often straddles authorities in both the North and South.

The recent referendum which has resulted in changes to Ireland's citizen law, and the unique dual British/Irish citizenship which exists in Northern Ireland directly impact on any movement of accompanied or unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees both intentionally and unintentionally across the border. The implications for the well-being and service provision to young people whether documented or un-documented would appear to mirror many of the issues that have been traditionally identified by those working with and on behalf of Traveller children in Ireland.

Given that prior warning sirens have been sounding for some time throughout the island as to the impact and legacy of poor service provision on Traveller's education and health as they move back and forth across the border, it is remarkable that no coherent and centralised system tracks children moving between the two regions.

Clearly there are issues of civil liberties to be taken into consideration, but the fact that there are no joined up working practices between those agencies providing services leaves young people vulnerable and at risk.

For example, the current lack of clarity as to the numbers of those who are affected by removal orders from either jurisdiction means that the visibility and successful integration of asylum seeking children on the island is in danger of being obscured by inadequate beurocratic systems.

Save the Children's research both nationally and internationally has resulted in us advocating for an urgent review of current UK Home Office policies on asylum seeking children.

We believe it is vital for civil service administrators to meet both international standards and the local Government's human rights obligations to ensure that there are systems in place to properly resource and facilitate the rights and well-being of asylum seeking children.

One sad reality is that the only shared experiences for some children whether recent migrants or indigenous is to be found in the ramifications and wash of living life in severe poverty.

Young people living in extreme poverty

In recent years, poverty has emerged as a major policy issue both nationally and internationally, with Northern Ireland being one of the most deprived parts of the UK. Despite the region having EU objective 1 status, research into the impact of poverty on children, its measurement and alleviation strategies have been poorly developed until recently.

The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister have found that in Northern Ireland, 38% of children live in households which, after housing costs, are in the bottom 30% of household income.

And Department of Social Development statistics show that 32% of children live in households whose only income derives from benefits (as opposed to the 19% in Britain).

Recent research by the Department of Work and Pensions and Save the Children indicate that large families are at disproportionate risk of poverty, and in Northern Ireland, over a quarter of all families have three or more children.

These and other reports record and highlight high levels of measuring severe material and social deprivation for children in Northern Ireland.

Yet it is staggering that there are currently no standardised levels of child poverty and this is despite the 2 nd Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Work and Pensions regarding Child Poverty having recommended the creation of explicit indicators to do this .

It should come as no surprise that adult definitions of social norms are not always compatible with those of children.

Consequently Save the Children have commissioned Dr Marina Monteith and Professor Eithne McLaughlin to carry out an analysis of current severe child poverty and social exclusion data. Their report investigates three poverty measures: income poverty, parental deprivation and child deprivation and the definition of children as living in severe poverty based on their being poor on all three measures.

Publication of the report is due in November and the key findings will be launched at the seminar series.

But it is not inappropriate at this stage to reveal that in calling for a coherent approach to the development of strategies to tackle childhood poverty, the findings will be of particular interest to those developing two key governmental policies, the Children's Strategy, to which I referred earlier and the Anti-Poverty strategy.

While some has been written about the connection between child poverty and child and adult health, little research to date in Ireland has considered the specific fit between child poverty, social exclusion and mental health disorders. And it may come as no surprise to learn that it is not just the bulk of the human cost, but also the financial costs which fall directly on those who suffer from mental health problems, together with their families.

Articles 24 and 39 , of the convention provide particular guidance for the protections and rights due to young people who are users of mental health service provisions.

In Northern Ireland we are awaiting the current review of the provision of services for those with Mental health and Learning Disabilities being under taken by the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety.

One of the challenges facing those exploring the concept of mental health, when it relates to children and young people, is that the area is neither ethically neutral, nor is it a value free endeavour.

Furthermore, there are particular circumstances in Northern Ireland, where the interface between political conflict, poverty and mental ill health is exceptional within the United Kingdom.

Highlighting the extensive range of problems exacerbated by socio-economic deprivation and the prolonged effect of civil disturbance and the troubles, the Northern Ireland Assoc. for Mental Health indicates the prevalence of mental health disorders in the North. Their most recent research suggests that mental health issues constitute the largest single health problems in our society.

Our seminar series highlights that despite Northern Ireland having a particularly high incidence of self-harming and suicide there is a lack of research, public awareness and adequate support for young people with mental health issues spanning depressive illnesses through to psychotic disorders.

Despite of a commitment by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to support children and adolescents with mental health problems,

local health authorities have confirmed that the current crisis within the system means that amongst other issues:

•  There is an under provision of services addressing the 14-17 year age group

•  Services are aligned to acute hospitals rather than to community Trusts

•  There are inadequate numbers of Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatry posts, and

•  There is a lack of in-patient services for adolescents with over 100 young peope aged 14-17 inappropriately placed on adult psychiatric wards.

It is also noteworthy that for those children and young people who do secure places on one of the two regional adolescent in-patient units, where the average stay is between 6 and 9 months, there is no dedicated educational provision.

In addition, it would appear that there is a predisposition of young people who are looked after, those in poverty and those within the criminal justice systems to be high risk for developing mental health problems.

And it consideration of this last group of marginalised youth with which I will end this morning, namely, those within the statutory and informal criminal justice systems.

Part of Save the Children's goals in Northern Ireland is to question the collective societal ambivalence to and condoning of physical and exclusionary punitive practices as a means of controlling young people. We are concerned about the lack of protection afforded to young people in general in relation to physical integrity and are committed to working for an outright ban on physical punishment in any form as a form of controlling children and young people's behaviour. It is a fundamental breach of their rights to physical integrity and dignity.

We also believe that the state has a duty of care to provide protection, support and services to all young people, and consequently any form of ostracisation that results in their being dislocated from their families and networks is de facto in breach of this duty.

In the wake of the controversial introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Orders in August 2004 applicable to children aged 10 or over, we believe that young people are risk of being forced to relocate from their communities of origin.

These civil injunctions which are issued in magistrate's courts, permit hearsay evidence as admissible and while professional witnesses can be used, reporting restrictions are not automatic, irrespective of age. Consequently ASBOs provide the opportunity for a public naming and shaming of young people and their families in the media and through the distribution of leaflets containing their names and photographs.

The breach of an ASBO constitutes a criminal offence carrying a penalty of up to 5 years' imprisonment, a fine or both.

The debate about the appropriateness of using ASBOs is controversial throughout the UK.

It is particularly so in Northern Ireland where there already exist concerns about informal justice systems occurring in some communities where warnings, curfews, fines, the exiling of families and the punishment beatings of children is a regular, but under researched form of social control perpetuated by paramilitaries and armed groups.

For many in Northern Ireland, restorative justice programmes are emerging as successful community development initiatives able to negotiate and provide alternative modes of communication between victims and perpetrators of petty crime and anti-social behaviour within communities, in particular in those where the community activists do not engage with policing services.

However for some others, in particular those young people who are marginlised within their communities due to the stimga of their labels as anti-social, it appears that the boundaries between community gate-keepers, guardians and vigilante activism remains blurred.

For many of these young people, it appears to be a preferred option that resources and energies are put into the further development of more formal restorative approaches which are decisions are managed by statutory agencies.

Save the Children are currently reviewing a number of earlier pieces of work by academics which looks at the experiences of young people who have had their rights violated due to their experiences of informal justice systems. We remain committed to investigating and holding government to account for the lack of identified service provision available to those forced to leave their communities and for whom physical punishment has been a reality.

The seminar series which we are running aims to stimulate debate over these and other rights violations which continue to occur in Ireland despite international legal directives and protections.

I began and will now end this address with the words of Eglantyne Jebb,

“The world's children stand in urgent need of better protection, because it is they who day-to-day pay the heaviest price for our short-sighted economic policies, our political blunders, our wars.” Eglantyne Jebb 1928 The World Policy of the Save the Children Fund, an essay in The International Handbook of Child Care and Protection

NISRA stats

Adelman et al 2003, and DWP 2003:18

2001 Census Table S007

(paragraph 89)

The Sainsbury Centre for Mental health and the NIAsso. For Mental health Counting the Cost 2004