Barry teenager becomes First Minister to champion the power of girls 

A Barry teenager, who has been working with the Council’s Youth Service to improve street safety, recently spent a day as Welsh Government First Minister.

Jaime spoke with Mark Drakeford about work she is doing to tackle public sexual harassment as part of a campaign to celebrate and recognise the power of girls.

International Day of the Girl was celebrated earlier this week, with activity around it including the Day of the Girl Takeover initiative, which offered girls the opportunity to sample life in high-powered political, technology, media and business positions.

Jaime spent 24 hours as head of the Welsh Government, preparing for First Minster’s Questions, attending a Hate Crime Awareness group meeting and attended a photoshoot with the World Cup.

“I got to speak to Mark Drakeford to ask him what it’s like when he’s preparing for the First Minister’s Questions and that was a really interesting experience,” said Jaime

“The favourite thing I did was the hate crime meeting with Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt because it was really interesting to listen to the different organisations, talk about the work they’ve been doing and be able to share the work that I’ve been doing.

“The key message that I wanted to get across from my work was the importance of seeing girls in high up roles in politics. I think it’s amazing that two of the Ministers that I spoke to today were female.

“I spoke a bit about the work I’ve been doing for Her Voice Wales on public sexual harassment and a survey we recently released.

“I think it’s so important that girls have that seat at the table and get their voices heard because it’s something that we didn’t have. Now we do it’s important to use every platform we can to get the message out there, to share our thoughts and opinions.”

Jaime is a member of the Council’s girls’ group Her Voice Wales and also a Rights Ambassador for the Authority, raising awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)and the Children & Young People’s National Participation Standards. 

She has also been part of the Youth Service’s participation projects for the last three years, working closely with Alexandra Thomas.

The Council plans to offer similar experiences to the one sampled by Jaime in the future. More information is available via email.