In 2024, the Ombudsman for Children received 1,812 requests from children, parents and professionals. The requests were mainly about education, youth welfare support, parental authority and contact, poverty and family law. According to Margrite Kalverboer, many of these problems could have been prevented if laws and policy had been assessed in advance to determine whether they would have a negative impact on children.
It should be made easier to find help
It turns out that if children or young people need help, it is often difficult for them to find this help or difficult for them to understand what to do. Organisations do not make it sufficiently clear how to ask for help or what to expect. In addition, the options vary from municipality to municipality, for example in terms of youth welfare support or school transport. “Too often, where you live currently determines whether or not your rights are observed. This should not be the case, as children’s rights apply everywhere and to all children,” says Kalverboer.
Important steps: Child Rights Impact Assessment and the Best Decision
To help legislators and policymakers better assess, in advance, the impact of new or existing rules regarding the observance of children’s rights, the Ombudsman for Children developed the Child Rights Impact Assessment in 2024. The aim of this tool is to prevent potential problems for children in the implementation of laws and policy. Margrite Kalverboer says: “These tools will help to assess in advance which children may be unintentionally affected by a policy. In this way, we can avoid having to intervene when it is already too late.”
She also presented an improved version of the Best Decision step-by-step plan, which helps to ensure that children’s voices and their development are fully taken into account in decisions that affect them.
Concerns about vulnerable groups
A major study conducted among 2,729 children and young people on quality of life showed that girls aged between 13 and 18 are the least happy and feel the least safe, particularly online. It also emerged that young people who do not identify as either boy or girl feel less safe and happy in their daily lives. Margrite says: “The differences are worrying. We call on the government to take age, gender and background into account more. Every child must feel seen and protected, online and offline.”
Divorce hurts, especially for children
The Ombudsman for Children also received many reports of complex divorces in 2024. The Ombudsman for Children’s investigations into this issue showed that girls feel unhappier about this than boys do. Children of divorced parents also indicated that they feel less loved and less safe at home. “Parents are irreplaceable. Especially during a divorce, they should continue to put their children first, no matter how difficult that may be,” says Margrite.
Children deserve clarity, security and support
In her Annual Report, the Ombudsman for Children calls on governments and other authorities to listen to children better, learn from mistakes and make help more accessible. Margrite says: “Children’s rights are not small. Children deserve to have their interests taken seriously in every decision that affects them.”