First Call grew out of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. When Canada ratified that Convention in 1991, its advocates gathered in a National Conference and agreed that it is time to give children a first call on our resources and on our advocacy efforts. The BC representatives were drawn from a variety of sectors: education, health, justice, social services, and others. They called their first First Call meeting in 1992. In the same period, a group of people who had been working on child and youth issues regarding the Royal Commission on Health Care and Costs formed the Child and Youth Planning Advocacy Network (CYPAN). In 1995, First Call and CYPAN merged, forming First Call: BC Child & Youth Advocacy Coalition. Learn more about the Coalition.

Children and youth must receive a first call on society's resources because we value them as children and youth and because they are our future. First Call is a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to create greater understanding of and advocacy for legislation, policy, and practice to ensure that all children and youth have the opportunities and resources required to achieve their full potential and to participate in the challenges of creating a better society.

• To raise the public profile of child and youth issues through public education and the dissemination of research.
• To advocate on public policy issues and the allocation of resources for the benefit of children and youth.
• To recognize the value of, and to involve children and youth in decision-making processes.
• To mobilize local and provincial support for children and youth.