Norway’s children’s ombud warns pandemic mistakes could be repeated

Norway’s children’s ombud has criticised authorities for failing to prioritise children’s rights in emergency preparedness, warning that lessons from the pandemic have not been properly implemented, Dagbladet reports.

Former health minister Bent Høie admitted earlier this month that pandemic measures “unnecessarily harshly” affected children and young people, particularly local lockdowns and restrictions. Now, Children’s Ombud Mina Gerhardsen says the knowledge gained from these failures risks being overlooked.

“We protected children poorly”
Gerhardsen told Dagbladet that while authorities initially pledged to safeguard children during the pandemic, the final assessment was clear: “We failed.” Vulnerable children faced worsening conditions, and the threshold for closing schools and kindergartens was set too low, she argued.

“As our understanding of infection risks improved, that threshold should have been raised significantly. Even years later, children are still struggling due to pandemic measures,” Gerhardsen stated.

She warned that children’s daily lives must be protected “as far as possible, even in crises and war,” but stressed that current preparedness plans lack a child-centred approach.

Legal obligations ignored
Both Norway’s Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child require that children’s best interests be a fundamental consideration—yet Gerhardsen said this principle is not being followed in practice.

“Despite clear legal obligations to assess how measures affect children, we’ve seen no evidence that a child’s perspective is included in the plans and guidelines being developed,” she said.

The ombud has recently met with government ministers and the Directorate for Civil Protection to push for reforms, including legal changes to strengthen children’s role in emergency planning.

Vulnerable children at highest risk
Gerhardsen’s greatest concern is for children already in difficult circumstances. “Clear demands must be placed on municipalities to include both a child’s perspective and direct input from children and young people in preparedness work,” she urged.

She called for crisis planning to go beyond logistics like water and supplies, focusing instead on “how to strengthen children’s resilience and care for them when disaster strikes.”

“Children are too often forgotten in crises, even though they’re often hit hardest,” Gerhardsen said, adding that young people themselves have demanded transparency and a voice in shaping emergency responses.