An independent office of Children's Commissioner is to be established in the North as part of a child strategy announced by the Executive.
Speaking in the Assembly yesterday, the First and Deputy First Ministers said they hoped the legislation establishing the office would pass through the house in its next session.
The First Minister, Mr David Trimble, said the commissioner would place the North at the "cutting edge of world practice" in safeguarding young people's rights and was a vital step in addressing an area in which it lagged behind the rest of Europe.
"If there is one matter on which there is common ground amongst all the parties in the Assembly, it is surely our common desire for a better, more secure future for our children," said Mr Trimble.
The Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, described the appointment as the central component of a "bold and imaginative strategy" which would also lead to a co-ordinated development of policies on children's issues.
Mr Trimble said he expected the commissioner would have the power to investigate cases of abuse of young people in care.
The Assembly also heard that organs from an estimated 400 babies had been retained after post-mortems in the North since 1945.
The Minister of Health, Ms Bairbre de Brun, made the announcement during a debate on the retention of organs without parents' consent in Northern hospitals, in particular the Royal Victoria, Belfast, and Altnagelvin, Derry.
Moving a motion criticising the Royal's announcement that it had retained organs without consent and calling for more information and preventive measures, Mr Jim Shannon of the DUP said the Royal's handling of the situation was "deplorable".
Ms Sue Ramsay of Sinn Fein said she and others had been shocked by the announcement that storing without consent was standard practice.
Ms de Brun agreed the matter was of great concern and said an inquiry by her department indicated that the organs of about 400 babies and an as yet unknown number of adults had been retained without consent since 1945.
She said it was "absolutely essential" no organs should be retained by the health service "without consent and without informed consent".
Guidelines had been put in place by the Chief Medical Officer to that effect last March and she had been assured they were being followed. The motion was carried unanimously.