6th May 2025
6th May 2025
Crowds attend first consultation meeting on Safer West
The first consultation meeting of the Safer West conference in Borgarnes was held today.
The Safer West Forum was established on the day of the Day of Happiness more than a year ago.
The cooperation involves more than twenty parties, including all municipalities in the countryside, the West Iceland Health Institute, the West Iceland Higher Education and Colleges, the West Iceland Examinary District, the Sports Association, the District Commissioner of West Iceland, the Association of West Iceland Municipalities and the Chief of Police of West Iceland.
The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police supports the project as part of measures against violence among and against children.
The focus of the consultation was on the well-being of children and young people and how to support them better in the West.
There were contributions from Hugrún Hrönn Kristjánsdóttir, translator of the book Líkaminn geymir allt about the relationship between trauma and addiction, Bergdís Wilson, director of the Centre for Education and School Services, about their resources, the Children’s Ministry and the National Team, and Þóra Jónsdóttir, an expert at SAFT – the Cyber Security Centre and the Media Committee on the digital world of children.
The participants worked in groups with concrete examples of children in difficulty. The discussion was how to further develop resources for children in West Iceland, what could be done to support families in the region and what could be done even better.
Bára Daðadóttir, project manager for welfare at the Association of Local Authorities in West Iceland:
The consultation clearly demonstrates the great interest and willingness in West Iceland to work together for the well-being of children and young people. Through the cooperation of all these parties, we can work effectively to strengthen the support network and increase the number of resources for our children and their families.
Jón Arnar Sigurþórsson, preventive officer and community police officer at the West Iceland Police Commissioner:
We have already identified Safer West as a key element in our work on community policing. It connects all of us involved in the welfare of children and young people. We hope that today’s meeting will further strengthen cooperation and information flow between institutions and local authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of children in the West.”
You can contact the community police in West Iceland by sending an email to
In case of emergency, call 112.