Young Roscommon carer heading to Geneva for UN Nations event

Young Carers advocate Shannika Greene (20) from Ballintubber has been invited to attend a United Nations event in Switzerland.

Shannika Greene will be heading to Geneva to represent young carers tomorrow, Monday, June 22nd. She will be attending an event led by keynote speaker, Philip Jaffe, Vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. 

Mr Jaffe will deliver a talk on highlighting the role of young carers and the need to implement more support services for them.

In March, Shannika, an advocate for young carers in the Northwest and across the country, took part in a conference held in UCD on the realities of young carers. A member of the organisation, CAIM Empowers, she has also previously taken part in the young carers conference as part of an Erasmus funded youth participation Project.

Mr Jaffe reached out to Shannika and her team through email. “He just sent us an invitation to attend the event, and we had follow-up meetings, just about what to expect and what he’d need us to do. It was just a big surprise to us,” said Shannika.

Through this opportunity, Shannika and her team will spread awareness about the event to the Léargas National Agency which provides funding for the National Young Carers Conference. They are also hoping to spread global awareness around the role of young carers.

On the future of young carers in the Northwest, Shannika said she would like to see more recognition for the role that young people carry out in their youth years.

On how it feels to represent young carers in Ireland, she said: “I’m speaking out for the people who can’t and helping other young people identify themselves with the term, young carers.”