Taisija
Youth Assembly Member
On the 28th of February, myself and a few other female members of the Youth Assembly attended the Women’s Parliament event in Parliament Buildings.
We arrived in the morning, did a little bit of social media content and then were led up to the Long Gallery. The Youth Assembly Members were split across different tables with representatives from a range of charities and members of the Women’s Caucus. Claire Sugden MLA, the Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, gave a short speech before all the tables got down to their own discussions.
I was at a table which discussed ‘Violence Against Women and Girls’, with multiple representatives from Women’s Aid, a charity whose main aim is to deal with domestic violence and abuse. As a member of the Youth Assembly Rights and Equality Committee, I found the discussion with them incredibly useful and engaging as we are working on a project about young women’s rights in schools. Overall, being in a room full of strong women from different walks of life felt so empowering.
We had lunch (which I quite enjoyed!) and then headed to the Public Gallery to watch the debate. In the Assembly Chamber, there were representatives from Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, Women’s Resource & Development Agency, Northern Ireland Women’s Budget Group, Women’s Forum Northern Ireland , Women’s Platform NI, Women’s Support Network and Women’s Aid NI. They spoke about the following issues:
- Violence against Women and Girls;
- Access to Health Services;
- Unpaid Work and Caring Responsibilities;
- Affordable Childcare;
- Older Women’s Issues;
- Equality and Human Rights Legislation;
- Women and the Economy;
- Disability and Women’s Issues; and
- Rural Women’s Issues.
Ministers responded to them including the Minister of Health, Mike Nesbitt, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, and Junior Ministers Aisling Reilly and Pam Cameron.
I felt like the whole debate gave me a very good insight on the different issues women face, however the insight given by the women representing Women’s Aid were particularly relevant as they discussed issues faced by girls and young women, which is very relevant for my committee.
In the Great Hall, a lady came up to us and started asking about the Youth Assembly. When she introduced herself, it turned out to be former MLA Jane Morrice who was a member of the Women’s Coalition when the Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement was signed. She was so enthusiastic about seeing us and told us a few stories about her experience as a female politician in the early days of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Even though meeting her wasn’t originally planned, it stood out to me as it showed how important women were, and still are, and how important it is to support each other.
We then spoke to Farah Black, one of the speakers on about Disability and Women’s Issues. We all remarked on how engaging her speech was. Her speech was very touching as she talked about her own personal experiences and the struggles she faced. We’ve been learning about making our voices heard and getting our message across because public speaking is a skill we as Youth Assembly members find very important.
We then spoke with the Junior Ministers, before having some refreshments and a debriefing and then it was time to go! I found this event incredibly useful and I’m so glad I went along.
