Are you wearing the right glasses? A guide to integrating a child rights and youth perspective in the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers

“The Nordic region must be the best place in the world for children and young people.”This is the vision of the Nordic Council of Ministers as expressed in its cross-sector strategy for children and young people in the Nordic region. The 0–25 age group is a prioritised target group in the strategy. A key objective in the strategy is that the Nordic Council of Ministers will increasingly integrate a child rights and youth perspective in its work, thereby raising the level of participation of children and young people. The objective is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also on a conviction that today’s projects and activities would be improved when children and young people participate and exert influence in various ways. Decisions would also be given greater legitimacy, and initiatives would be of higher quality and relevant to more people when the perspective of children and young people is incorporated.