Here you’ll find the blog and newsletters of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.
Rocio Cifuentes became the Children’s Commissioner in April 2022.
Keep being you, keep being awesome
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think I’m having a bad dream where children and young people can’t go and meet their friends, or learn with their teachers, or go to breakfast club, or play sports, or put on a school play or all…
School uniform wars: time for a rights-based approach
Over recent months and years there has been a spate of headlines as children are put in isolation, served with exclusions or banned from play times due to their ‘inappropriate’ clothes, haircuts, jewellery, eyebrows or make-up. Schools in parts of the UK seem to be upping the ante with…
Why I’m proud of our young activists
Yesterday (June 5th) my office arranged a meeting between some of the young people (from Radnor Primary School and the Atlantic College) who took part in recent climate change strikes in Cardiff and the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths. The demonstrations caused a stir: many…
Where next for children’s mental health services in Wales?
In this blogpost I summarise where Wales is at in its reform journey of children’s mental health services and present my vision for the next leg of the journey. Read our July 2018 position paper Wales is now in the fourth and final year of its Together for Children…
Gender and safety – a personal experience
I am proud to be supporting Primary Agenda which is being launched today. It’s a carefully planned and tested resource to help children in primary schools to explore issues of gender stereotypes, negative behaviours and personal safety. Here is a very personal blog about why it’s needed. Earlier this…
Youth Parliament
Every child and young person has the right to speak up and have their views taken seriously, but until now the voices of young people in Wales have lacked a national platform. I am thrilled to welcome the first meeting of the Youth Parliament for Wales on the 23rd of…
Challenges for the new first minister
2019 has started with a new First Minister. In this blogpost, I’d like to underline what I think are the two main challenges Mark Drakeford and his Government faces when it comes to improving the lives of children in Wales. Two issues in particular stand out: child poverty and…
Universal Children’s Day 2018
Human rights guarantee humanity’s basic freedoms and needs. As the most vulnerable in our society, children are given additional rights, and it is our duty as a society to protect and promote them. These rights are entitlements; they are not optional.
First Official Meeting for the Advisory Panel at Cardiff & Vale College
Guest blog by Naz Ismail On the 6th October , the South Wales advisory panel had their final meeting for 2018 at the Cardiff and Vale college, amongst the advisors , staff from Child Com hosted the event (Kath and Sarah) and Margaret from the adults advisory panel was…
Giving young carers the recognition they deserve
Last Saturday I attended Cardiff Young Carers’ barbecue in Butetown Youth Pavillion. There was an amazing showcase event to start, with talented young people singing solos and in groups. In between songs there were some personal stories that were so moving that when it was my turn to speak…