Wednesday November 20th marked #WorldChildrensDay and the 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. To celebrate this the Ombudsman for Children’s Office held #ChildTalks2019 in Dublin Castle on the theme of ‘living your best life’.

 YAP young person Leanne Scanlon was chosen from a large number of entries to represent young people and the experiences they face in their lives. Leanne spoke about how she advocates on behalf of her younger sister Emily who has a diagnosis of Autism and how she cannot reach her full potential without the correct services. Along with her YAP advocate Christine, Leanne has worked hard over the last few months preparing her speech for the day which she delivered powerfully.

Leanne was chosen to appear on the RTÉ One 6 One News that evening to tell more about her story. You can catch up on that interview here: https://www.rte.ie/player/series/rt%C3%A9-news-six-one/SI0000001474?epguid=IH000375250

You can watch Leanne’s speech from today here and forward to 30 minutes in: https://www.facebook.com/OCOIreland/videos/2479737532285942/