Summer Camp Programme

Oral Answers to Questions — Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 2:15 pm on 11 May 2015.

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Photo of Adrian McQuillan Adrian McQuillan DUP 2:15, 11 May 2015

6. Mr McQuillan asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline how the summer camp programme 2015 grant pilot has been promoted. (AQO 8110/11-15)

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

Mr Speaker, with your permission, junior Minister McCann will answer the question.

Photo of Jennifer McCann Jennifer McCann Sinn Féin

The summer camp pilot programme 2015 has been widely promoted. It was advertised in the three main daily newspapers — the 'Belfast Telegraph', 'The Irish News' and the 'News Letter' — on 15 April. It was also advertised on the Department's website, tweeted from our Twitter account and placed on our Facebook page. Over 2,500 stakeholders were also advised when the programme opened, and other key partners, including the Community Relations Council, the Department of Education, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the Rural Community Network, the Education Authority and local councils, were asked to circulate the information to their stakeholders. The programme closed for applications on Friday, and the assessment and selection process has not yet been completed, but we are on track to meet our target of delivering 100 camps in 2015.

The programme is about building positive relationships among young people aged 11 to 19 from diverse backgrounds across all parts of our community. Camps should be fun and offer a range of age-appropriate activities according to young people's interests, but good-relations-based learning must be at their heart. Camps must be run on a cross-community basis and at a local or regional level. They will offer young people an opportunity to get to know one another and all the ones from different parts of their community and to have fun, try new experiences and help build longer-term relationships.

Photo of Adrian McQuillan Adrian McQuillan DUP

I thank the junior Minister for her answer. Can she tell me how many applications there were and how many she received from the East Londonderry constituency?

Photo of Jennifer McCann Jennifer McCann Sinn Féin

I do not have the exact figures, but I will certainly get them to the Member in written form. There were quite a number of applications, and, as I said, the programme only closed on Friday. Applications are being looked at now.

Photo of Bronwyn McGahan Bronwyn McGahan Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat. Can the junior Minister outline how we are meeting our international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in the design of the summer camps?

Photo of Jennifer McCann Jennifer McCann Sinn Féin

The summer camps have been designed with due regard being paid to the UNCRC. First, the camps are open to all young people, regardless of their religion, gender, ability or ethnic background. That is in keeping with articles 1 and 2, which state that everyone has those rights and that government must protect young people from all forms of discrimination. As part of the co-design process, a small youth co-design team was established to run in parallel with a full summer camps design team. The youth team met OFMDFM officials on four occasions, and its views fed directly into the larger co-design team meetings to ensure that young people's views were taken into consideration at all stages of development of the programme. That, too, is in keeping with article 12 of the convention, which states that government shall respect young persons' right to say what they think and to have their views taken seriously.