During 2002, the NCO grew from a staff of six to seventeen,
so it was effectively a set-up year.
The highlights of 2002 included the United Nations
Special Session on Children in New York and Dail na
n6g in Dublin. At both these events, children and
young people debated and discussed issues of
importance to them and their communities, proving
that young people are fully capable of playing a part
in local, national and international decision-making.
The NCO also worked with other government
departments in moving forward the Children Act
2001, which represents a new way of dealing with
children who are in trouble with the law and who
have serious behavioural difficulties.
A collaborative and partnership approach is central to
the work of driving the implementation of the
National Children's Strategy and the NCO strives to
adopt this approach in all its work. During 2002, we
worked closely with the Minister for Children, Brian
Lenihan TD and with the National Children's Advisory
Council (NCAC), which is made up of representatives
of statutory agencies, the voluntary sector, the
research community, parents and young people. The
NCAC has an independent advisory role on the
implementation of the National Children's Strategy,
reporting to the Minister for Children.
We also worked in partnership with our colleagues in
government departments, many of whom are
involved in implementing aspects of the National
Children's Strategy.
The staff of the NCO is a talented and enthusiaStiC
team and I look forward to work1ng with them and all
our stakeholders in the statutory and voluntary sector,
to improve the lives of children in Ireland. I would like
to thank all those who worked w1th us during the year
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