– I’m shoveling! Ronja (2) willingly demonstrates what a normal day at Vasshaug kindergarten in Salangen in Midt-Troms looks like. Together with big brother Jacob (5), she runs around in a pink park suit and blue reflective vest – from the sandbox, to the dollhouse, and on to the swing stand. – You can remember there, and then I will remember here, directs the two-year-old. Ronja (2) and Jacob (5) play well together in the nursery. Big brother starts school next year. Then Ronja is the last Mienna-Vimme child left in the kindergarten in Salangen. Jacob (5) is very attentive to his little sister when they are in the kindergarten, says the mother. Ronja and Jacob are a little too young to understand it, but they grow up in the municipality in Norway that has the best offer for children and young people. This is shown by Unicef’s recent municipal analysis, which ranks the municipalities on a scale from one to five according to how highly they prioritize services for children and young people in their budgets. The analysis consists of five sectors: Kindergarten, school, child welfare, health services and cultural services. See which areas your municipality prioritises, and how much money it spends compared to the rest of the country in Unicef’s municipal analysis. These are the main findings Nine of the ten municipalities that offer the best services for children and young people are small municipalities with a population of less than 10,000. Eidfjord is the only municipality at the top that is categorized as large. Among the municipalities at the bottom of the list, the vast majority generally score low in all five sectors. The analysis also shows that densely populated areas do worse than the national average. Five of these two municipalities are located in today’s Akershus, and three of them in Møre and Romsdal. UNICEF emphasizes that municipalities that score low do not necessarily deliver inadequate offers and services, but that the level is lower compared to the level in other municipalities. This year’s municipal barometer is based on reported figures for 2023. 336 out of 357 municipalities are included. – Stolt og kry news is involved when Unicef surprises Salangen mayor Simon Løvhaug (Sp) with the good news. – I feel very proud and proud, not least about the work that is done every single day by all the municipal employees, says an overwhelmed mayor. Since April last year, he has led the small municipality with 2,100 inhabitants. Just over 430 of these are under 20 years old, figures from Statistics Norway show for the second quarter of this year. Løvhaug is handed a framed version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by Bondø. It should remind him of the work he has done, and of continuing to prioritize the children in the municipality. – We really must continue to make sure that all children are well and have the rights they should have here. Mayor Simon Løvhaug is handed a poster showing children’s rights by Unicef’s acting director for children’s rights Sara Bondø. Photo: Ingvild Vik – What you do when you prioritize children and young people in the municipality is that you secure their rights, says Sara Bondø, Unicef’s acting director for children’s rights, and adds: – And that is very important, because children’s rights are universal rights that all children have. Bondø says that Salangen is one of several municipalities in the north that scores well in this year’s survey. She believes the reason for the municipality’s success is that they have a stated ambition to prioritize children and young people. – And then over time they have had an ambition to prevent eviction. A good way to achieve that is to have a good children’s policy and good upbringing conditions for children. The mayor confirms that. – Children and young people are the future. They are the ones who will ensure that people live in Salangen in the years to come, says Løvhaug. Sara Bondø from Unicef traveled to Salangen to convey the good news to the municipality’s mayor. Photo: Ingvild Vik – Have to consider young people’s wishes At Salangen school, the children are outside playing in the late summer sun. The children know very well who Mayor Løvhaug is when he enters the schoolyard. He is only 25 years old, and has gone to school himself. – I could not have grown up in a better place. There is room for everyone here, and you can do whatever you want. And there are not least good teachers, says Løvhaug. Mayor of Salangen municipality, Simon Løvhaug (Sp), grew up in Salangen himself. Photo: Simen Wingstad / news Education inspector Dagfinn Antonsen welcomes the mayor with a smile. He, too, is proud when he hears about the award. He knows how important it is that young people are heard in the matters that concern them – before the decision is made. – Before, we only managed to do what we adults thought was good for the children, he says. The inspector tells an anecdote from another municipality in the county: There they built a skating ramp intended for the municipality’s young people, but when it was finished no one used it. – When the politicians asked why, the young people replied that they had not asked for a skate ramp. So it is incredibly important that you take their wishes into account. Experiencing being heard – Raw! This is 17-year-old Maiken Helen Andreassen’s reaction to the news of the top ranking for the municipality she grew up in. Andreassen is in her second year of the industrial technology course at Sjøvegan upper secondary school, and is on her way down to the workshop to continue a painting job when news meets her. She is involved in matters concerning young people, and sits on both the municipality’s youth council, and is involved in the Student Organization. Maiken Helen Andreassen (17) is in second year at Sjøvegan upper secondary school, and is involved in the conditions of young people in the municipality. Photo: Ingvild Vik – I want to fight for us young people to feel good, and that we have all the rights we should have. – Do you think you are being heard? – Yes, actually. I think we are one of the municipalities that are listened to the most. news Axel Mienna-Vimme (7) Axel (7) thinks there is a little more to do at school now than there was last year. He would like to have more time to play football. – The best thing is to have a football pitch directly below the house, says Axel. Ingvild Vik Jacob Mienna-Vimme (5) Jacob (5) likes to be outside and go on walks with the kindergarten. This year he is an eagle, which means he is a pre-school boy. – And he really likes drawing and beading, and being a bit creative, says mum. Ingvild Vik Maiken Helen Andreassen (17) – You get to do quite a lot when you live in Salangen. We try to arrange as many things as possible for young people, so that people will want to come to Salangen and move here, says Maiken. – The children here are doing well The figures from Unicef show that there are large geographical differences in the service provision for children and young people around the country. The UN has repeatedly criticized Norway for this, because it goes against children’s rights. – It is not the municipal boundaries that determine how you grow up, but right now it is actually like that in Norway, says Bondø. At the very bottom of Unicef’s list is the municipality of Rælingen, which lies south of Lillestrøm. In the second quarter of the year, just over 5,000 children and young people under the age of 20 were registered in the municipality – more than ten times as many as in Salangen. Youth council leader Tuva Landmark (15) shows news around the youth club, which opened two years ago. – Here you can get free food, says Landmark. Youth council leader Tuva Landmark (15) is in the tenth grade at Marikollen secondary school in Rælingen. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news The 15-year-old has had a good upbringing in Rælingen, and doesn’t quite recognize the municipality’s bottom ranking in Unicef’s survey. – I think it’s a bit strange, actually. I don’t think it’s so bad here that we should end up at the bottom, she says. Mayor Gro Langdalen (H) acknowledges that it is not pleasant to end up in last place. – This investigation is about spending money, and we are a municipality that does not have a lot of money. But we use them effectively, and in that way achieve a great deal, says Langedalen. Mayor Gro Langdalen (H) does not think it is any fun to finish last. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news – The children in Rælingen are doing well, she asserts. – When your municipality falls to last place in such an analysis, what does that do to you as mayor? – You don’t exactly get proud, but I have to try to talk about what we are good at. And then I think we get a lot out of the kroner we have. Youth council leader Landmark thinks the municipality has done a lot of good for the young people – including building the youth club. – It provides great opportunities for people. It is a place to meet, and people from several places come here. Hallgeir Braastad / news Nora Marie Ulleland (15): – You get to know many different people, and it is very easy to make friends with people here. I would say there are many opportunities for young people here, including the club. Rushda Syed Nithurshan Pulendran (15): – I think it’s quite nice here. I like the ski slopes, nature and people. The offer for young people is very good, among other things the youth club offers various activities. Hallgeir Braastad / news Mathilde Berge Buch (15) – There are nice people and a good environment and such. The offer for young people is good, there is plenty to do. In the summer, it’s lovely to lie on the football pitch and just talk and stuff like that. Challenging municipalities at the bottom Several of the municipalities that do poorly are located in Eastern Norway, and are more densely populated than the municipalities that do well. Bondø hopes the municipalities that score low will prioritize uplifting children and young people in the municipality going forward. Acting director for children’s rights in Unicef Norway, Sara Bondø encourages listening to children and young people before decisions are made. Photo: Simen Wingstad / news – My challenge to them is that from now on I will start making assessments based on the best interests of the child in all decisions they will make in the municipality that concern children, says Bondø. She encourages involving young people in decision-making processes. – The children most important Back in Vasshaug nursery school, mum Ina Mienna-Vimme tells them that they are mostly satisfied with the offer their three children get in Salangen. – Now we have a fairly young mayor, so perhaps he can also be at the forefront of making it even better for families with young children to live here in the municipality. Ina Mienna-Vimme is happy that the nursery is now open all summer. Photo: Ingvild Vik She highlights ongoing enrollment in the nursery school, her own kitchen staff, and reduced nursery school fees. A trial project is also currently underway to keep the nursery open throughout the summer, so that families who cannot have the entire joint holiday off can also have a holiday together. Next summer is the last year of the trial project. Mienna-Vimme hopes the arrangement will be permanent. Ronja (2) lives in the municipality which has been voted Norway’s best for children’s rights. Photo: Ingvild Vik – How important is it that the municipality makes arrangements for children to get a good offer? – That is the most important thing. If the children are not well, then we parents are not well. Published 10.09.2024, at 09.39
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These municipalities prioritize children and young people the most – news Troms and Finnmark
