The National Audit Office's report on the state's efforts to strengthen compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD considers that the child's best interests should be in the forefront 1 and that the government creates conditions through children's rights policy and concrete measures 1. MP considers that the implementation must become better and more coordinated 2, but they also see themselves as a children's rights party. SD welcomes the review and argues that the government's governance has not been sufficiently effective 3. M considers itself to be Sweden's children's rights party 4 and argues that the government is implementing a paradigm shift where the child's best interests take precedence over biological parents' rights 4. C considers that the government has good ambitions 5. L argues that the government is doing important work 6. S argues that the Convention on the Rights of the Child as law does not provide sufficient effect 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Speakers (15)
Christian Carlsson (KD)
Madam Speaker! When the Christian Democrats took the initiative to make the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Swedish law, the purpose was to strengthen children's rights and to strengthen the children's perspective in Sweden. It was then, and still is, our firm conviction that the best interests of the child shall always come first in all measures concerning children. The family has the primary responsibility for its children, but every municipality and every state is also obliged to support and strengthen families and ensure that children's rights are respected.
The National Audit Office has audited the state's efforts to strengthen compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and a particular focus has been placed on the school area and the child rights work of three school authorities. These are the Special Pedagogical School Authority, the National Agency for Education (Skolverket), and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen).
We can conclude that the government's governance has created conditions for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child through the children's rights policy in the state budget, the work within the government on children's rights issues, and the strategy to strengthen children's rights. At the same time, there is a need for continued measures, which is also pointed out by the Swedish National Audit Office.
Knowledge of children's rights at different levels and in different operations needs to be further strengthened. The uncertainties in the application of the law that the introduction of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has entailed need to be clarified. I also want to emphasize the importance of the children's rights perspective being included early in the legislative process.
We Christian Democrats and the government recognize the importance of the child's perspective and the best interests of the child permeating the policies being pursued to a greater extent. In the area of schools, we can now state that since September 2024, the school authorities have a consistent requirement in their instructions to, in all measures concerning children, primarily consider what is deemed to be the best interests of the child according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It is quite clear that Sweden needs to continuously work towards fulfilling the commitment that the introduction of the Convention on the Rights of the Child entails. Existing legislation also needs to be gradually adapted. This applies not only to the school's area, which has been the focus of the review, but to significantly more areas. The Government is, for example, undertaking ambitious work to strengthen children's rights within family law and in the area of social services.
As you know, we in the Riksdag have decided on a number of measures to strengthen the protection for children, which entered into force on 1 January 2025. The Children and Parents Code (Föräldrabalken) is amended to ensure that the child's right to be protected from violence takes precedence over parents' right to visitation with their children. Courts shall, to a greater extent, have an obligation to obtain a statement from a psychologist when assessing whether a child is at risk of harm, and children shall have the right to a public counsel in the event of a transfer of custody to someone other than the child's parents.
Furthermore, a new Social Services Act will now be introduced. The social services shall take into account the child's opinions when assessing what is in the child's best interest. The child has the right to information about the measures being taken, and the social services shall ensure that the child understands the information.
In other words, the government strengthens the children's perspective and children's rights in accordance with what the Convention on the Rights of the Child prescribes, and we are doing it very concretely in a number of areas. It will make a difference for our youngest in custody disputes, in foster care placements, and in courts. That is something I am very proud of.
Children who grow up in safety and are treated with respect are given good conditions to face life's challenges as secure adults. We Christian Democrats will continue to monitor compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child so that all children are met with respect, are listened to, and get to grow up in safety.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I am pleased that many of my colleagues have chosen to participate in this debate, even though it was only the Miljöpartiet that submitted a follow-up motion in response to the government's communication regarding the Riksrevisionen's report.
I am also very pleased that the government as recently as last week announced that they plan to take a new measure and are commissioning Statskontoret to follow up on the government's strategic work with children's rights and provide proposals on how the work can be developed in the future. I have not had the opportunity to see the exact design of the assignment, but I note that Statskontoret is, among other things, tasked with proposing suitable measures to ensure systematic and coordinated implementation and follow-up of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to propose which or what types of steering instruments are best suited for the government's continued work. It is obviously positive, and I will follow the work moving forward.
Madam Speaker! Miljöpartiet was involved in ensuring that the Convention on the Rights of the Child became law in 2020, but the implementation of the law must improve. The Swedish National Audit Office assesses that the government's management of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child needs to become clearer and more coordinated, and it considers that the importance of the strategy from 2010, which is still in effect, has been far too weak. The strategy should also be updated.
The Government responds that the strategy should be followed up and evaluated - which is now to be assumed to be included in Statskontorets mandate. Miljöpartiet wants to emphasize the importance of the follow-up being conducted with the participation of children's rights organizations and other actors from civil society.
Before today's debate, I have received some reflections from Save the Children, which among other things emphasize the importance of the government having a clear plan for how it will work with the recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It is also important that it is clarified which actors are responsible for which recommendations.
Save the Children notes that the government several times in its communication mentions that the recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child are important for the government's work with implementation and that it is important to listen to how the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child interprets the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But the clear plan for how the work is to proceed is missing at the current stage. A new strategy to strengthen children's rights, children's rights policy goals, as well as children's rights budgeting for resource allocation and follow-up of the goals should be established to improve governance, Save the Children believes.
Save the Children also points out that since the recommendations were issued at the beginning of 2023, the government has taken several measures that go in the opposite direction compared to what the committee has recommended for Sweden. This concerns, for example, expanded possibilities to evict families with children, the investigation into lowering the age of criminal responsibility, and several measures within the migration area.
Madam Speaker! Save the Children has also highlighted another important part of the work regarding children's rights. Miljöpartiet has motioned on this many times, and I therefore also want to highlight this here. It concerns children's right to complain. The National Audit Office describes, among other things, difficulties within the school sector, but the government does not mention anything regarding the right to complain in its letter. Miljöpartiet and many children's rights organizations have for a long time pushed the issue that Sweden should as soon as possible ratify the third optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child regarding a complaint mechanism. I hope that we can soon see this become a reality.
Madam Speaker! The National Audit Office writes, among other things, in its review that several people they interviewed during the work have noted that there need to be organizational prerequisites to receive and apply knowledge about children's rights and translate it into practice. Operations that have a squeezed budget, staff shortages, high staff turnover, and similar challenges will have difficulty fully complying with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, regardless of how laws and knowledge support are designed.
The Government responds by highlighting the importance of a certain ordinance that entered into force last spring, which means that authorities, committees, and special investigators are given better conditions to produce cost-effective and socio-economically justified proposals. Among other things, the National Economic Agency has been tasked with producing a guideline and obtaining knowledge from the Children's Ombudsman. It is very important, and our hope is that child impact assessments will therefore be made more consistently before various decisions.
Whether the new ordinance will include proposals in the budget is not clear to us. We believe that the government should return with a clarification of how child consequence assessments shall be made in the budget.
Miljöpartiet argues that the decision not to index the general state grants to regions and municipalities affects children because it provides less room in operations to have - and take the consequences of - a children's rights perspective. This has also been stated by several children's rights organizations.
Madam Speaker! There are still far too many children in Sweden who are suffering, and the state's support functions are far too weak. With a more consistent child perspective in all levels, it would not have to be so. Sweden is a wealthy country; we should be able to do better.
Carita Boulwén (SD)
Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the Social Affairs Committee's report SoU9, the National Audit Office's report on the state's efforts to strengthen compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. I would first like to move for approval of the committee's proposed decision and at the same time point out that we in the Sweden Democrats welcome the audit that the National Audit Office has conducted.
Madam Speaker! Children are not just small people, they are our entire future. It is the small hands that one day will carry what we build today. That all children should be given the very best possible conditions to grow up in safety with love and care should be a matter of course, but unfortunately, it is not a reality for everyone. Our primary duty as adults and as decision-makers is to give them a safe and good upbringing, where their rights are respected and their needs are always put first and they are seen, affirmed, and listened to. Parents, guardians, families, school, social services, authorities, among others, have a crucial role in this.
Madam Speaker! The Convention on the Rights of the Child turned 35 years old last year. It was ratified by Sweden in 1990 and became Swedish law in 2020. It means that as a society, we have committed ourselves to putting children's rights first in all decisions concerning them. But just as the National Audit Office's report shows, there are shortcomings in how we live up to this promise. The National Audit Office states that the government's governance to promote the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been sufficiently effective. We share the view that high ambitions have existed but that the implementation falters.
The Sweden Democrats pointed out deficiencies that existed before the adoption of proposition 2017/18:186 Incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the previous government submitted. It was unclear how the Convention on the Rights of the Child would be interpreted and applied in relation to Swedish legislation. One example is that the Convention on the Rights of the Child would sometimes conflict with other laws and principles, which would lead to uncertainty for both authorities and courts.
Madam Speaker! It is not enough for a law to be adopted; it also requires management, resources, and a concrete strategy for it to make a difference in practice. The central starting point for the Sweden Democrats is that the best interests of the children must always be put first. We have long emphasized the importance of protecting children's rights and that this should not only occur on paper but in practical action throughout the entire social system. Strengthening the child perspective in decision-making is central, but it must not occur at the expense of legal certainty or in such a way that it only creates additional bureaucracy.
The National Audit Office's review points out several deficiencies in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It concerns deficiencies in governance, coordination, and knowledge, which makes it difficult to ensure children's rights in society.
Madam Speaker! We note that the government, in its communication to the Riksdag, shows a willingness to continue working to strengthen compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The government has taken several measures since the convention became law in 2020, such as educational initiatives and strengthened guidelines for various agencies.
Through a new ordinance on impact assessments, clearer requirements are now being set that the children's rights perspective shall be highlighted in the legislative process. The Swedish Agency for Public Management has been tasked with supporting and training authorities so that this shall become a reality. The Children's Ombudsman has received new and reinforced assignments, including collecting case law and developing statistics on the living conditions of children and young people. The Government has also strengthened the coordination between the school authorities by clarifying their responsibility to place the child's best interests at the center of their work.
These measures are important steps forward, but as the Sweden Democrats have previously pointed out, more than symbolism and bureaucratic frameworks are required. Concrete actions are needed that reach the children and improve their everyday lives. It is our duty to ensure that every child in Sweden gets to live under good and safe conditions. No child should have to grow up in the shadow of violence, fear, or neglect. Their world should be characterized by safety, hope, and opportunities.
Madam Speaker! We must also not turn a blind eye to the parallel social structures that are emerging in our country and which threaten children's rights. Honor culture, female genital mutilation, child marriage and so on are in direct conflict with the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children should never have to grow up in an environment where their freedom is restricted or their dreams are stifled by outdated traditions and values. Clear leadership from the state is required here to ensure that Swedish law and Swedish values are always paramount.
Madam Speaker! We in the Sweden Democrats support the government's communication and look forward to working together further to ensure that the children's best interests are always put first.
Johan Hultberg (M)
Madam Speaker! The Moderates are Sweden's children's rights party. We are now using the trust and the power that the voters have given us to step by step strengthen children's rights, strengthen children's position and ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child takes real effect.
Madam Speaker! If one wants to strengthen children's rights, it is not enough to make the Convention on the Rights of the Child into law. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is anything but simple to follow, apply, and interpret in different concrete situations and activities. Therefore, children's rights and the best interests of the child need to permeate all legislation.
Just as the National Audit Office states in its report on the state's efforts to strengthen compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child rights perspective needs to be integrated early in all legislative work. Therefore, the government is now working hard, not least through Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, to clarify and strengthen the child rights perspective in a long series of different legislations. In my contribution to this debate, I will mention some of the many concrete examples of legislative changes that the Moderaterna and the government have already implemented or are in the process of implementing in order for children's rights to truly be respected and have an impact in every child's life.
Very soon, the government's bill on a new Social Services Act will be laid before the Riksdag. The bill will contain proposals for a new law that strengthens the social services' work with early and preventive interventions. In the new law, the children's rights perspective will be clarified and adapted to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The new Social Services Act is one of the largest, yes, perhaps the very largest, social policy reforms carried out in several generations, and it will mean a great deal for children in Sweden in general and for socially vulnerable children in particular.
A completely central part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is that the child's best interests are what should primarily govern decisions regarding children. We Moderates have worked hard for the development of lex Lilla hjärtat. For the previous government, biological parents' rights to the children took precedence over the children's rights. Now an important paradigm shift is being implemented. The child's best interests shall take precedence over the biological parents' rights, and a child shall not be forced into contact with a violent parent, hence lex Tintin. In the government's proposition Tryggare hem för barn, it is established that the child's best interests take precedence over the right to contact with a parent that the child does not live with.
Other concrete legislative changes that the Moderate-led government has already managed to make are the extended travel ban. It is an important change in order to be able to protect more children from being taken abroad against their will. The government has also strengthened children's rights in sheltered housing.
Madam Speaker! These were some examples of how we concretize the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Swedish law and how we secure that which the Swedish National Audit Office has audited, namely Sweden's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To change Swedish law and early integrate the child rights perspective in legislative work is central to strengthening compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but the Swedish National Audit Office points out in its report many other measures that need to be taken, such as clear and coordinated management and follow-up of the implementation of the Convention.
To achieve this, the government, as several of my colleagues have already pointed out, has taken a number of measures, such as reinforced and developed instructions and regulatory letters to a number of agencies. Worth mentioning are, among others, the amendment of the instruction for Statens skolinspektion, which has now received a corresponding instruction to the one that applies to Skolverket regarding how the principle of the best interests of the child according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child shall be implemented in the agency's work.
In conclusion, I want to highlight the importance of the National Audit Office's review. It is important that we continuously follow up, evaluate, and debate how we succeed in Sweden when it comes to protecting and securing children's rights. The Moderates are, as said, Sweden's children's rights party, and we will continue to demonstrate this in practical action. Step by step and reform by reform, we strengthen children's rights.
With this, Madam Speaker, I would like to vote in favor of the committee's proposal.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Johan Hultberg, for the speech! I think it is fantastic that several parties claim the epithet Sweden's children's rights party. I assume that Miljöpartiet also considers itself to be so.
I have some concrete questions that I, of course, want to take the opportunity to ask. Johan Hultberg mentioned a number of different measures, and we agree that the things that the government has now done are good steps along the way.
I wonder about a couple of other investigations. An investigation was submitted in 2020 concerning the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Swedish law, and precisely what was also mentioned by a previous speaker: how Swedish legislation and practice align with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A number of inconsistencies were found, not entirely surprisingly. So far, governments have acted on only a few of these, and I therefore wonder if Johan Hultberg knows if there is a plan to take the work with that investigation's observations further.
I also wonder if there are plans from the government to proceed with the proposals from investigation 2023:40, which concerned improved opportunities for children to assert their rights – the possibility of lodging complaints, for example.
Johan Hultberg (M)
Madam Speaker! There are many parties that want to be Sweden's children's rights party, absolutely. The point of my speech was that it is not enough to say it, or to make the Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish law. One also needs to translate this into practical politics and ensure that it permeates the legislation. In that regard, the previous government, which was supported by Miljöpartiet, unfortunately left very much to be desired.
When we, for example, pushed the issue of lex Lilla hjärtat, we did not initially get a majority. We did not get the government to ensure that the best interests of the child would be an independent criterion and that the best interests of the child would always take precedence over the parents' rights. It is a significant failing for the previous government, and I am incredibly proud that we now have a new government that is truly making these necessary changes in Swedish legislation - in the Family Code, LVU, and many other pieces of legislation that are important and which I gave some examples of in my speech.
I find it somewhat difficult to answer directly on how the government is concretely working with the observations and recommendations that have been made from these two government inquiries. But I note that the government is systematically strengthening children's rights and clarifying this in Swedish legislation. I mentioned a long series of examples in my speech - in addition to those I just mentioned, it also concerns the issue of protected housing and much more.
The government is also putting forward, for example, a budget initiative on independent children's ombudsmen, which concerns exactly what the member is requesting, namely that children's opportunity to assert their rights and to receive help and support in demanding their rights shall be strengthened. I am very hopeful about that initiative, which is being carried out on a trial basis but which I hope can be made permanent if it proves to be successful.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I completely agree with Johan Hultberg that it is not enough to simply make the Convention on the Rights of the Child into law. This was also the reason why the investigations I mentioned were commissioned: to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a law would have practical effect.
Then there are absolute examples of when the previous government did not do its best from a child's perspective at all. And there are examples of how this government also absolutely does not do its best from a child's perspective, even though I in no way doubt Johan Hultberg's good intentions.
It is also very pleasing that the Social Services Act is now coming. That investigation was commissioned by the previous government. Here, there seems to be a consensus regarding very much of what was proposed by the investigation and which the government has then chosen to proceed with.
This matter regarding children's rights agencies, which Johan Hultberg mentions in his response, was part of the investigation that dealt, among other things, with ratifying the third optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; it was a proposal from that investigation. It is very pleasing that it has been taken further.
I am, of course, still keen that other proposals from these investigations are also moved forward. The investigation from 2020 is a very ambitious review of how laws would need to be changed to better align with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is therefore of great support, both for this government and for other, future governments, in the work of implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child for the best interests of all children.
Johan Hultberg (M)
Madam Speaker! It is incredibly good that there is a broad consensus on the need for a new Social Services Act and that the proposal that is now moving forward seems to receive very good support here in the chamber.
What was unfortunate about the previous government's appointment of that investigation was that Margareta Winberg, who investigated the new Social Services Act, was explicitly forbidden from presenting proposals that involved increased ambitions. The proposal was not allowed to cost one krona more. Now, the new government is adding substantial resources, because we believe that the new Social Services Act needs to express an increased ambition and that Sweden's municipalities need to be given resources to be able to staff up and strengthen their competence to truly ensure that the new law takes effect in practice.
If you look at the government's list of bills, you can see that they are now rushing in, I was about to say, bills to the Riksdag. The pace of reform is very high and significantly different than during the previous mandate period. As I mentioned: Step by step and reform by reform, we will continue to strengthen children's rights and children's position in Sweden and in Swedish legislation.
Martina Johansson (C)
Madam Speaker! Children are children. Children are individuals in their own right and not appendages to us adults. Children have their own rights and also obligations. But it is adult society that is responsible for protecting our children and ensuring that their rights are upheld.
Madam Speaker! The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been Swedish law for a few years. When the decision on this was made, the Center Party actually wanted it to be part of the constitution, but that was not what received a majority in the chamber. We thought that it could be a clearer way to ensure children's rights. And just as previous speakers have pointed out, the convention itself can be difficult to interpret. But we have it as law, and since then, we have all worked together to strengthen children's rights.
As a comment on which party is the best children's rights party, I think: Imagine if Sweden could become the best children's rights country, where we collectively, all parties in the Swedish Riksdag, join forces and work to constantly find areas for development!
Madam Speaker! The report from the National Audit Office that we are debating today or discussing – I do not know which term we should use – shows that there are deficiencies within the areas of the Committee on Social Affairs and the Committee on Education. It does not go into much on other areas where I perceive there are also deficiencies, which I will return to.
Centerpartiet has no other opinion than the government when it comes to the response to the report. It shows that the government has a good ambition and has taken many good measures to strengthen children's rights. In that, we are in agreement with the government many times over.
Madam Speaker! The Centre Party, however, lacks some different parts, such as the follow-up. I am pleased that the government is now inspired by my recurring questions on how we should follow up that the decisions we make provide what we want and make a difference for our children and young people.
I hope that in the future, assignments will be given to Socialstyrelsen or another appropriate authority to develop good methods that our various municipalities and regions can use in their everyday work, so that it truly becomes as good as we want it to be for every child.
I and the Center Party also miss the overall scope of the government, because this spans more areas than the Committee on Social Affairs and the Committee on Education. It spans issues such as social construction and over the areas of responsibility of the Committee on Justice.
What actually worries me when we talk about children's rights lies outside the report's review, and this I want to return to. There are, for example, discussions about lowering the age at which one can be sentenced for having committed a crime. There, Madam Speaker, I want to return to the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children are children. That adult society in some cases fails to provide early support and interventions to children, we cannot blame the children for that.
I am convinced that if we focus on punishment instead of on care and treatment for children, we do not create secure individuals, but rather we create insecure individuals with anger and mistrust towards adult society. What they need instead is care, support, and treatment.
Madam Speaker! It is this view of certain children that worries me, not the great work that we do together in, among other things, the Committee on Social Affairs. Certain children do not have the same rights.
Regarding the Riksrevisionen's report, I vote in favor of the committee's proposed decision. We stand behind the response that the government has submitted.
Gulan Avci (L)
Madam Speaker! After having listened to all previous contributions and in response to Member Martina Johansson's question as to whether we have had a debate or a conversation, I conclude that it has been a respectful conversation here today.
Madam Speaker! When Sweden made the Convention on the Rights of the Child into law on 1 January 2020, we took an important step to strengthen the perspective on children's rights. It was a clear message that children's rights shall be at the center. But let us be honest. A law is worthless if it is only formulated in beautiful words and legal paragraphs and is not complied with in reality. That is why it is so important that we act and react, and that is exactly what the government is doing.
The National Audit Office's report shows that we have a great deal left to do. State authorities lack clear instructions for competence development, which they claim is insufficient. This is, of course, not acceptable, for let us not forget that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is not a general recommendation but a binding law that must be complied with.
Madam Speaker! Children are individuals with their own rights, their own needs and their own dreams, and it is our responsibility to protect them and give them the best conditions in life. Yet we see that there are many children who are left without the support and the security that they have a right to.
We often hear fine words about children's rights in this chamber, and today was no exception. But let us be honest, in a respectful tone. The opposition had many years to create change when they sat in government. Instead - unfortunately, I want to emphasize - their passivity paved the way for the gangs to grow ever stronger and recruit small children into criminal networks.
Honor-related oppression is another central area that was unfortunately ignored, and more and more children and young people were forced to live with honor norms. They were repeatedly let down by society as a whole, both by cowardice and by lack of interest.
This government has chosen a different path. We see the problems, we address them, and we are determined to reverse the development. In this work, the fight against honor-based oppression is particularly central. No girl, and no boy either for that matter, shall be forced to live under outdated norms that limit their freedom. No girl shall be controlled, married off, or have her dreams crushed early in life.
The government has tightened the legislation and given the authorities important tools to combat honor-related violence and oppression. We have made it clear that these children are not forgotten. We see them, and we stand on their side.
Madam Speaker! Gang crime is another issue that affects many children. In vulnerable areas, they are recruited by criminal gangs, exploited as runners, and drawn into a dangerous environment where the violence only escalates. The Government has tightened the penalties for those who exploit children and involve them in crime.
It is of course not enough with just sharp laws and harsher penalties, but we must also act preventatively. It is precisely this emphasis and balance that the government has laid the foundation for through both intensive preventive measures and tough laws against those who contribute to splitting society, engage in crime and involve innocent people in their activities.
As mentioned by the speaker before me, we will therefore reform the entire Social Services Act. It will be launched in just a few months. We are investing in schools, leisure activities, social interventions, and so on. These are important measures that give children a way away from crime, but they are also measures that prevent more children from being drawn into those environments. We are creating opportunities and safety where it has previously been lacking.
Madam Speaker! I want to say something about the Liberals' starting values, because there are many who want to be the children's rights party. We naturally never accept that a single child is left without security or the opportunity for a better future.
The opposition may criticize us, and today it has happened in a rather limp but respectful manner. Their history nevertheless shows what happens when words remain words and rarely lead to active action. I think it is important to point this out.
What we do today is about building a society where every child can grow up in safety and freedom. Children's rights are non-negotiable. Therefore, the government is actively working to ensure that Sweden is a country where the best interests of children always stand at the center, where their needs are not forgotten and where their rights are not ignored.
With this, Madam Speaker, I move for approval of the proposal in the committee's report.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I apologize for prolonging the debate, but Member Gulan Avci raised a question that I know interests the Liberals extra much, and there I would like to bring up a certain aspect.
Honor-related violence and oppression were mentioned, and I am naturally very curious to hear if there are any plans to move forward with the thoughts on legislation against conversion attempts of LGBTQ persons.
Gulan Avci (L)
Madam Speaker! I do not think at all that Member Ulrika Westerlund is prolonging this debate. I think it is reasonable because Miljöpartiet is the only party that has a follow-up motion.
This is a very important issue and an issue that the Liberals have emphatically pushed for many years. We have the same ambition. I know that the issue is being addressed and that work is underway.
There are many areas concerning honor-related violence and oppression, which unfortunately have been a neglected issue for many years - unfortunately, I must say. But very much has been done and is being done when it comes to the fight against honor oppression.
For the Liberals, the fight against conversion therapy, but also these appalling trips abroad whose sole purpose is to—on sick grounds—pardon the expression, Mr. Speaker—attempt to convert people who have a different sexual orientation, remains a very central and important issue. We continue to push the work forward.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member very much for that announcement.
The last thing I did in my professional life before I became a member of Parliament was to work at MUCF on a report that dealt precisely with conversion attempts of LGBTQ people. In that report, which is available on the agency's website as part of a larger report on the situation of young LGBTQI people in Sweden, there is quite a lot of information.
I think it is important with the extended travel ban. It is positive. But it appears from the report from MUCF that it also occurs in Sweden. One does not need to leave the country to be subjected to this.
I also think it is important that this is seen in a context of honor-related violence and oppression, but that one also includes other people's experiences. It was very clear in our work that a number of the affected persons saw themselves as included when one expresses oneself in terms of honor-related violence and oppression, while others did not. That probably depends on how they themselves interpret their vulnerability.
For example, one can see that people who have been subjected to [abuse] within the framework of Christian free church congregations do not describe themselves as victims of honor-related violence and oppression. They are not such according to the common definition either, but there are quite a few similarities. And it is definitely a matter of conversion attempts, so in legislative measures and other support measures that one may wish to take, it is important to include broadly so that all victims feel affected by the measures that are taken.
Then I think that this government has reason to review some of its actions. I mentioned earlier that measures that the government has introduced for other reasons are problematic from a children's rights perspective. I really think that in this work, one should walk the walk and not just talk the talk. I recommend that one looks at its own measures within, for example, the migration area and various measures in the legal area as well from a children's perspective.
Gulan Avci (L)
Madam Speaker! Once again, thanks to Member Ulrika Westerlund for this important question!
I really want to emphasize that these attempts to convert hbtqi persons are unacceptable, regardless of whether they are committed on Swedish soil or if these persons are taken out of the country. I would almost say that it is more serious if it happens on Swedish soil, because we have clear legislation regarding all people's equal value.
It is also that which permeates our politics, both in actions and in laws. Of course, the Liberals will never, in any context, see this issue with different eyes. The Liberals were the ones who pushed forward this issue. It is also a clear decision we have in our regional meetings to ban conversion therapy.
I think it is good that the member highlights the national dimension, because we can never accept this here in Sweden. We have already had a development over perhaps 20 years where the denial of honor oppression has been all too present in politics. We cannot continue with either relativizing or downplaying certain types of violence just because it is linked to a certain religion, custom, ethnic group or whatever. But it is clear that one must broaden the perspective and see that others can also be affected, not least within certain parts of the church. So it is. But for the Liberals, this is an important issue, and we continue to push it.
Yasmine Bladelius (S)
Madam Speaker! On June 13, 2018, I stood in this speaker's chair and delivered what was perhaps my most important speech during my ten-year period as a Member of Parliament. I therefore take the liberty, Madam Speaker, to quote myself and a passage from the speech I delivered then.
"Today I feel an immense pride in being a part of this assembly. We have now moved from the negotiating tables to debating and later today deciding to finally make the Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish law."
I was proud then, Madam Speaker, and I am proud now. I am proud to have been part of making the decision to make the Convention on the Rights of the Child Swedish law. I am proud to belong to a party that has long pushed for this issue and for children's rights. I am proud, Madam Speaker, but I am not satisfied.
The National Audit Office's review of the state's efforts to strengthen compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child has shown that many of the concerns we had at the time have been addressed.
According to the Swedish National Audit Office, there is, among other things, a lack of knowledge at different levels regarding what children's rights actually mean in practice for the various operations.
The National Audit Office further argues that there is still uncertainty in public activities regarding how to interpret and apply the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
According to the Swedish National Audit Office, there are also deficiencies in how children's rights are highlighted in the legislative process. It is assessed that a children's rights perspective should be integrated earlier and more comprehensively in the legislative process, for example in investigation directives and through clearer instructions in the ordinance on impact assessments.
Furthermore, it is noted that there is a lack of education regarding children's rights in the Government Offices.
This, Madam Speaker, makes me repeat what I often say: Children must be more present for those of us who govern society. We talk all too often about children and all too rarely with children.
My conclusion, having reviewed the National Audit Office's report, is that we can do better than this. We must be able to do better than this - for the sake of the children.
It is time to change. It is time to do right. It is time to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child as Swedish law makes a real difference. It is a task that we must do together, the government and the opposition, and that work must start now.
Madam Speaker! This is most likely my last thematic debate in this chamber. I intend to leave my parliamentary mandate in March this year after ten years as a Member of Parliament. I am so happy to be able to devote my last minutes in this speaker's chair to one of the most beautiful and finest things I know, namely children and children's rights. Thank you for that, Madam Speaker!
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.