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.
‘My name’s Joel and I’m the Prime Minister’
This is how I was greeted by 11 year old Joel when I arrived at St Joseph’s RC primary school in Penarth recently. Wales has promoted democracy in schools for many years – making school councils compulsory in every state school from December 2005. School councils give life to…
First day
I applied for the post of Children’s Commissioner because I want to make sure that the ‘3 Ps’ of children and young people’s rights are at the top of everyone’s agenda in Wales. These are: Participation: do you have a chance to have a say in issues that affect…
Austerity Bites
As I come to the end of my first month in office I can pause to reflect on what an unusual month it has been. Across the UK the month has been dominated by the General Election – an event that is usually held only once every 5 years…
Safe in our communities
Over the last three weeks my team and I have had the chance to talk to hundreds of children and young people and hear their ideas on what matters to them and what they want me to speak out about on their behalf. Lots of them have told me…
Measuring child poverty
I have published a report with the other three children’s commissioners of the UK to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on the state of children’s rights in the UK. We were last invited to report in 2008 so we have a lot to say….
Mental health for all
In my first few months as the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, I have been asking the question ‘What Next?’ to hundreds of children and young people and to parents, teachers and others who work with children. When I ask ‘What Next?’ I mean, ‘what should I do as a…
Take Pride
‘Take Pride’: rights for LGBT* young people in Wales I recently took part in a really ground-breaking Pride Cymru Youthconference in Wales. It was Wales’s first youth-led conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* young people. The conference hall was really buzzing with young people, many of whom are…
Equal protection
Universal Children’s Day: It’s time to give children Equal Protection https://youtu.be/QGuNggMVvI0 Universal Children’s Day is an important date in the calendar of any Children’s Commissioner. It was established by the United Nations in 1954 to encourage understanding between children and promote children’s welfare around the world. It is held…
Care proceedings: Prevention is best
In the last month there have been two interesting reports on care proceedings. These are the proceedings in family courts which make legal orders about children being placed into care settings. The first was the report by a research team led by Professor Karen Broadhurst of Lancaster University into…
Generation Games
Too often the way we organise our lives means that different generations may have little to do with each other. Although grandparents play a huge part in children’s lives in Wales – you only have to go to any school gate or park to see that – many of…