Belfast City Youth Council

Who is Belfast City Youth Council?

Young people make up a third of the population of Belfast, making our city one of the youngest in Europe. 

As Belfast is home to so many young people, we thought it was time they had a say in how our city is run and show that they’re listened to by adults.

If you’re a young person, we’ve set up the Belfast City Youth Council (BCYC) to help make this happen.

The Youth Council is made up of 30 young people from communities across Belfast.

All of our members are aged between 13 and 18 (or up to 21 if they have a disability, have just left care or have been referred through social services) and are a Youth Council member for two years.

They meet twice a month to agree and work on issues affecting young people. They also attend joint workshops with elected members of our People and Communities Committee (link opens in new window) three times a year.

Follow us on social media.

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BelfastCityYC (link opens in new window)
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/belfastcity_yc/ (link opens in new window)

Belfast City Youth Council campaigns and projects

RADICAL programme

Youth Council members have completed their work with Queen’s University Centre for Children’s Rights on the RADICAL (Respect and Disrespect in Children’s and Adolescents Lives) project, a two-year study on the rights of children.

The project collected the views of over 5,300 children and young people on their understandings and experiences of respect and disrespect.

Members were part of advisory group of children and young people (CYP) who worked alongside academics and researchers from Queen’s University Belfast.

Together, they helped shape the research, collate and analyse the information and write up the research findings – making sure young people’s voices were captured at each stage.

They held a special event in City Hall on Monday 23 February to present their research findings and talk about their experiences of being involved in such an important project.

For more information on the Youth Council's work on the RADICAL programme, email [email protected] 

Previous work

• Any Use? research report on young people’s opinions on Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in Belfast 
• Heads Up! toolkit to help young people organise a mental health campaign project in their community and support them to campaign on local mental health issues
• a regional youth-led mental health campaign, 'Elephant in the Room' concentrating on mental health in children and young people, and
• Poverty: It’s not a choice research report on raising awareness about poverty in Belfast.

If you would like more information on Belfast City Youth Council campaigns and projects, email [email protected] or call 028 9032 0202.

The United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child (UNCRC)

The United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a list of rights created to protect all children and young people and make sure they have everything they need to live a happy and healthy life. 

The work of the Belfast City Youth Council is guided by the UNCRC, in particular:

• Article 2 - children and young people should not be discriminated against
• Article 3 - the best interests of children and young people should be a top priority in all decisions concerning them
• Article 12 - every child and young person has the right to say what they think in matters affecting them and to have their views listened to and taken seriously.