Module 3: Child Participation

CONTENTS
Acronyms and abbreviations 2

1. Introduction 3
1.1 Purpose and objectives 3

2. Key issues and considerations 5

2.1 Participation as a right 5
2.2 Participation as a path to other rights 5
2.3 Participation as a contributor to child-development, programmatic and
societal outcomes 6
2.4 EU’s commitment to child participation 7
2.5 Challenges to realizing participation rights 7

3. Mainstreaming child participation within country programming 8

3.1 Participation rights context analysis 9
3.2 Child participation in programme implementation 11
3.3 Evaluation of child participation 11

4. Recommended interventions to realize participation rights 13

4.1 Awareness-raising to change attitudes 13
4.2 Building capacities, skills and behaviours for meaningful participation 14
4.3 Establishing standards for child participation 15
4.4 Ensuring mandated and allocated resources: time, money and people 15
4.5 Establishing structures, procedures and mechanisms for consultation 17
4.6 Mobilizing children and young people to participate 17
4.7 Integrating child participation in settings frequented by children 19

TOOLS 25
Tool 3.1 Matrices for assessing the environment for child participation 25
Tool 3.2 Matrix for assessing the scope of child participation 32
Tool 3.3 Matrix for assessing the quality of child participation 34
Tool 3.4 List of outcome indicators 40

Annexes 43
Annex 3.1 Opportunities for child participation at local and national levels 43
Annex 3.2 Approaches to integrating child participation in programming 47
Annex 3.3 References/resources 50

Endnotes 53

1
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
ICT information and communications technology
NGO non-governmental organization

2
 Module 3: Child Participation

1. Introduction
Child participation is one of the
fundamental values of the Convention DID YOU KNOW?
on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is Children can form and
not only a free-standing right but also express views from the
one of the CRC’s four guiding principles earliest age, but the nature
(participation; non-discrimination; the of their participation – and the
best interests of the child; and life, survival range of decisions in which they are
and development). involved – will necessarily increase
in accordance with their age and
Creating an environment in which child evolving capacities.
participation is fully and effectively
realized has been challenging for all governments. Traditionally, most societies
throughout the world have viewed children as the property of their parents or as
subject to the authority of elders within their community, with scant recognition of any
entitlement to their emerging autonomy.

Since the CRC was adopted in 1989, there has been significant global investment in
initiatives designed to offer children opportunities to engage in matters of concern to
them at the community, local, regional, national and international levels. Some examples
of these include support to child-led organizations and networks, involvement of
children in politics and governance such as child parliaments and establishing standards
for ethical and meaningful participation. The EU also has explicit commitments to
enabling children’s involvement in the development, implementation and monitoring
of policies and actions that affect the realization of their rights (see section 2.4).

Despite this, child participation remains elusive for most children around the world.
Both governments and donors have tended to address participation in rather limited
ways – primarily through specific projects or one-off consultative events. Too often
these initiatives, while achieving benefits for the individual children and local services
involved, have made very limited progress in transforming the social, political and
cultural environment towards greater opportunities for sustained engagement.

“I
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3
Recognizing children as active agents
in their own lives represents a profound
change in the legal and social status they
have traditionally been afforded in most
countries in the world. It is a fundamental
recognition of citizenship and of the dignity
of every child, with implications for every
arena of their lives.

4
 Module 3: Child Participation

In this module we will:

1. Explain the importance of child participation as a right in itself and also as an
instrument to realize all other rights
2. Explain what is meant by authentic/meaningful participation and identify
opportunities for this at all levels
3. Identify the steps necessary to develop an environment conducive to realizing the
right to participation within political dialogue and programming
4. Identify recommended interventions to support the realization of child
participation rights

2. Key issues and considerations

2.1 Participation as a right

Participation can be defined as “an on- Relevant articles of the CRC

going process of children’s expression
ƒƒ Art. 5 – Parental direction and
and active involvement in decision- guidance in accordance with
making at different levels in matters that respect for children’s evolving
concern them. It requires information- capacity
sharing and dialogue between children ƒƒ Art. 9 – Non-separation of children
and adults based on mutual respect, and from families without the right to
requires that full consideration of their make their views known
views is given, taking into account the ƒƒ Art. 12 – The right to be listened to
and taken seriously
child’s age and maturity”.2
ƒƒ Art. 13 – The right to freedom of
expression
Participation rights refer to a set of
interlocking provisions of the CRC that
ƒƒ Art. 14 – The right to freedom of
conscience, thought and religion
require children’s active engagement and
ƒƒ Art. 15 – The right to freedom of
participation at every level of society on association
matters that concern them. ƒƒ Art. 16 – The right to privacy
ƒƒ Art. 17 – The right to information
Together, these provisions reflect the
ƒƒ Art. 29 – The right to education that
international consensus that children have promotes respect for human rights
civil and political rights that governments and democracy
have an obligation to respect, protect and ƒƒ Art. 42 – The right for children to
fulfil. know their rights

2.2 Participation as a path to other rights

Child participation is not only a right in itself; it is also a prerequisite for the exercise of all
other rights within families, schools and the larger community context. For example:
ƒƒ Child-responsive budgeting: Children need to be consulted on the choice of
competing priorities for the use of resources and for the design of plans and policies

5
 affecting them. They can effectively advocate for budget allocations and monitor
the implementation of social schemes crafted for their welfare. In this way, they
can contribute to the political, social and economic progress of their countries and
support the process of strengthening democratic governance.
ƒƒ Health: Children are entitled to have access to basic information about health and
nutrition and to be supported in the use of this knowledge.
ƒƒ Education: Children should have the opportunity to develop their talents and
abilities to fulfil their potential, to gain confidence and self-esteem, to use their
initiative and creativity, to gain life skills and take informed decisions and to
understand and experience pluralism, tolerance and democratic coexistence. They
also have the right to influence and have a say in the design of school curricula,
learning methods and school governance structures.

2.3 Participation as a contributor to child-development,

programmatic and societal outcomes

ƒƒ Participation contributes to personal development: Empowered children can

become active and effective advocates for the realization of their own rights. Children
acquire skills, knowledge, competencies and confidence through participation.
ƒƒ Participation leads to better decision-making and outcomes: Adults do not always
have sufficient insight into children’s lives to be able to make informed and effective
decisions when designing legislation, policies and programmes for children.
Children have a unique body of knowledge about their lives, needs and concerns,
together with ideas and views that derive from their direct experience. Decisions
that are fully informed by children’s own perspectives will be more relevant, more
effective and more sustainable.
ƒƒ Participation serves to protect children: Children who are silenced and passive
can be abused by adults with relative impunity. Providing them with information,
encouraging them to articulate their concerns and introducing safe and accessible
mechanisms for challenging violence and abuse are key strategies for providing
effective protection. Opportunities to participate have been found to be of particular
importance in situations of conflict and emergencies.
ƒƒ Participation contributes to civil society development, tolerance and respect for
others: Participation promotes civic engagement and active citizenship. Through
experience of direct participation in matters of concern to them, children acquire the
capacity to contribute to the creation of peaceful and democratic societies that are
respectful of human rights.
ƒƒ Participation strengthens accountability: Participation is central to a process of
building accountability and promoting good governance. It is a means through which
governments and other duty bearers
can be held to account. Investment in
building children’s capacities for and
commitment to active participation will
“W e, the children, are experts on
being 8, 12 or 17 years old in the
societies of today. Nobody knows better
contribute towards the creation of more what children actually need. To consult us
transparent and open government. (See will make your work more effective and
Module 6: Child-responsive budgeting for give better results for children.”3
more on this topic.)

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 Module 3: Child Participation

2.4 EU’s commitment to child participation

The EU has explicit commitments to effectively promote and safeguard children’s

rights in socio-economic and development policies. An integral part of this is enabling
children’s involvement in the development, implementation and monitoring of policies
and actions that impact the realization of their rights.

Additional commitments on child participation:

Cotonou Agreement
“…cooperation shall support policies, measures and operations aimed at protecting
the rights of children and youth, especially those of girl children” and “promoting the
active participation of young citizens in public life” (Art. 26).

“…cooperation shall play systematic attention to institutional aspects and in this

context, shall support the efforts of the ACP States to develop and strengthen
structures, institutions and procedures that help to ... promote and sustain
universal and full respect for and observance and protection of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms” (Art. 33).

EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child
“The EU reaffirms its determination to observe as a matter of priority in its external
human rights policy the promotion and protection of ALL rights of the child, i.e.
persons below the age of 18 years, taking into account the best interests of the child
and its right to protection from discrimination and participation in decision-making
processes, founded on the principles of democracy, equality, non-discrimination,
peace and social justice and the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and
interrelatedness of all human rights, including the right to development.”

The importance of children’s participation is further emphasized in:

ƒƒ A Special Place for Children in EU External Action (Commission of the European
Communities, 2008)
ƒƒ The European Union’s Action Plan on Children’s Rights in External Action
(Commission of the European Communities, 2008)
ƒƒ Council Conclusions on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child
in the European Union’s External Action: The development and humanitarian
dimensions (Council of the European Union, 2008)
This key policy framework clearly identifies respect for children’s views as one of the
priorities and principles to guide EU programmes and actions.

2.5 Challenges to realizing participation rights

Despite widespread recognition that child participation is a fundamental human right,

there still remain some powerful challenges to its universal acceptance. These include
the following views:

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ƒƒ Children lack the competence or experience to participate. Yet even very small
children can tell you what they like or dislike about school and why, can produce
ideas for making a lesson more interesting and can offer help to other children.
Provided they are given appropriate support and adequate information and are
allowed to express themselves in ways that are meaningful to them – through
pictures, poems, drama and photographs as well as more conventional discussions,
interviews and group work – all children can participate in issues that are important
to them.
ƒƒ Children must learn to take responsibility before they can be granted rights. But
newborn babies have rights and they cannot be expected to carry responsibilities.
And one of the more effective ways of encouraging children to accept responsibility
is to first respect their rights.
ƒƒ Giving children the right to be heard will take away their childhood. Article 12
does not impose an obligation on children to participate. Rather, it provides a right
for children to do so. Children’s right to be heard, in fact, is critical to improving the
nature and quality of the childhood they experience.
ƒƒ It will lead to lack of respect for parents. On the contrary, listening to children is not
about teaching them to ignore their parents but about respecting them and helping
them learn to value the importance of respecting others. It can be difficult for some
parents to respect children’s right to participate when they feel that they themselves
have never been respected as possessors of rights. Nevertheless, this does not imply
the need to hold back from encouraging children to participate but, rather, the need
to be sensitive in doing so.
ƒƒ Children cannot have the right to be heard until this right is respected for adults.
But if societies are to build more opportunities for their citizens to be heard, it is
important that this process begins with children. Encouraging children from the
earliest ages to engage in critical enquiry, challenge abuses of rights and acquire
the confidence and capacity to express their views will contribute to wider societal
change.
ƒƒ Children’s rights are a Western concept being imposed on other countries. It has been
argued that the very concept of child participation, which promotes the visibility
and individual rights of a child, is a Western-imposed principle that conflicts with
the cultural commitment to the primacy of the family in many other cultures. In fact,
history and mythology of the non-Western world has many examples of children
and young adults who have had a ‘defining’ role in their own lives and in the lives
of their communities long before the CRC came into being in the modern world. The
continued viability and strength of the family is actually central to the realization of
children’s rights.

3. Mainstreaming child participation within country

programming
Development cooperation actors can contribute to furthering effective and ethical child
participation by supporting the creation of a conducive environment at the national
policy and programming level, as well as by supporting the integration of participation
at all stages of the programme and project cycle management.

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 Module 3: Child Participation

3.1 Participation rights context analysis

Building greater understanding of the ways in which participation rights can be

identified and monitored – and analysing the extent to which a national context is
conducive to their realization – is an important starting point in establishing long-
term and meaningful child participation. This could be done through a participation
rights analysis.
STEPS OF PERFORMING A PARTICIPATION RIGHTS ANALYSIS

Step 1: Identify legal entitlements

Step 2: Identify key stakeholders

Identify mechanisms to access

Step 3:
infomation and raise awareness

Identify opportunities for children to influence

Step 4:
agendas and participate in their daily lives

Step 1. Identify legal entitlements to participate

The right of children to express views on issues that concern them is codified in legal
standards and procedures. Examples of these include the availability of child-friendly
court procedures, legal guarantees for children to be heard in judicial proceedings and
requirements for schools to establish school councils. It is important for the analysis
to be able to properly identify the extent to which these are present across national
policies and legislation.

Step 2. Identify the key stakeholders within government and civil society
with accountability to support the realization of the right to participate

It is critical to identify the key stakeholders that have responsibility and influence to
realize children’s participation rights. Among those are: Office of the Head of State,
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of
Justice, other relevant government institutions at all levels, including municipalities
and local councils, members of the judiciary, parliamentarians and mayors, educators,
religious leaders, community leaders, parents and teachers.

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 Step 3. Identify mechanisms to provide access to information and raise
awareness

Access to information is a critical component of realizing children’s participation

rights. Development cooperation actors can assess the extent to which children have
access to independent information from various sources (radio, television, helplines,
etc.) and whether this information is available in child-friendly and accessible formats.

It is equally important to assess the extent to which training is in place to raise awareness
on child rights and participation at pre- and in-service levels for all professionals
working with and for children (including teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges,
police, psychologists, social workers and prison staff).

Step 4. Identify opportunities for children to influence public agendas and

meaningfully participate in their daily lives

Development cooperation actors can support the creation of concrete opportunities

for children to influence public agendas (for example, by providing feedback on the
quality, accessibility and appropriateness of public services available for them, by
being represented in local and national governance bodies or by having the right to
establish their own organizations).

It is also important to assess the extent to which concrete opportunities are in place
for children to meaningfully participate in their daily lives, in accordance with their
evolving capacities to do so. These include child-friendly and participatory learning
environments in schools and involving children in decision-making processes
concerning their own health care.

See Tool 3.1 for a list of matrices used to ‘map’ where a country
currently stands with regard to participation rights.

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 Module 3: Child Participation

3.2 Child participation in programme implementation

In order for children’s participation in programme implementation to be meaningful,

effective, ethical, systematic and sustainable, compliance with certain principles and
standards is essential.

PRINCIPLES AND STANDARDS FOR MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION4

CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION MUST BE:
Transparent and Children must be provided with full, accessible, diversity-sensitive
informative: and age-appropriate information about their right to express their
views freely and their views to be given due weight, and how this
participation will take place, its scope, purpose and potential
impact.
Voluntary: Children should never be coerced into expressing views against
their wishes and they should be informed that they can cease
involvement at any stage.
Respectful: Children’s views have to be treated with respect and they
should be provided with opportunities to initiate ideas and
activities.
Relevant to Opportunities must be available for children to express their views
children’s lives: on issues of real relevance to their lives and enable them to draw on
their knowledge, skills and abilities.
Child-friendly: The approaches to working with children should be adapted to
their capacities. Consideration needs to be given to the fact that
children will need differing levels of support and forms of involvement
according to their age and evolving capacities.
Inclusive: Participation must be inclusive, avoid existing patterns of
discrimination, and encourage opportunities for marginalized
children, including both girls and boys, to be involved.
Supported by Adults need preparation, skills and support to facilitate children’s
training for participation effectively, to provide them, for example, with skills
adults: in listening, working jointly with children and engaging children
effectively in accordance with their evolving capacities.
Safe and In certain situations, expression of views may involve risks. Adults
sensitive to risk: have a responsibility towards the children with whom they work
and must take every precaution to minimize the risk to children of
violence, exploitation or any other negative consequence of their
participation.
Accountable: A commitment to follow-up and evaluation is essential. Children
are also entitled to be provided with clear feedback on how their
participation has influenced any outcomes.

3.3 Evaluation of child participation

There are three distinct dimensions to participation that require measurement if

practice is to be monitored and evaluated effectively: scope, quality and outcome.

11
1. Scope: What degree of participation has been achieved and at what stages of
programme development? In other words: What is being done?

In order to assess the scope of participation in which children are involved, it is

necessary to address two perspectives:
ƒƒ Point of engagement. Children can be involved at different stages in the process of
developing a programme – from the initial concept through to implementation and
monitoring and evaluation. The earlier they are involved, the greater their degree
of influence.
ƒƒ Level of engagement. At each stage of developing a programme, there are three
potential levels of engagement for children – consultative, collaborative and
child-led (see Annex 3.2 for details). The extent to which children are empowered to
exercise agency within an initiative will be influenced by the level at which they
are participating. However, all three are valid approaches and can be appropriate,
depending on the goals of the programme.

See Tool 3.2 for a matrix for measuring the scope of children’s
participation.

2. Quality: To what extent have participatory processes complied with the agreed
standards for effective practice? In other words: How is it being done?
Nine basic requirements have been recognized as the foundation for effective,
meaningful and ethical participation. Benchmarks have been elaborated against
each of these nine requirements and can be used to measure the quality of any
participatory processes involving children.

See Tool 3.3 for a matrix containing details of the nine basic
requirements.

3. Outcome: What has been the outcome – for young people themselves, for families,
for the supporting agency and for the wider realization of children’s rights within
families, local communities and at local and national governmental levels? In other
words: Why is it being done?

The outcomes associated with child participation should be assessed in accordance

with the objectives for involving them (for example, to promote children’s self-
esteem and build skills and confidence, to ensure that programmes reflect children’s
expressed priorities, to enable children to participate in challenging neglect or
violations of their rights, or to change a law or policy to strengthen child protection).
These different objectives need to be clear at the outset of any programme and will
influence what indicators are constructed for measuring effectiveness.

See Tool 3.4 for matrices on possible outcome indicators.

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 Module 3: Child Participation

4. Recommended interventions to realize

participation rights
This section provides a summary of the steps for developing an environment conducive
to realizing participation rights within national policy and country programming.

Governments, supported by donors, need to implement a broad range of measures

to ensure that child participation is embedded and institutionalized. If children’s
participation is to be more than an occasional practice on the part of a limited number
of well-intentioned adults, it needs to be recognized as an entitlement.

While a regulatory framework is not sufficient on its own to achieve meaningful

participation, it is a necessary foundation for establishing clear patterns of entitlement,
obligation and accountability. Beyond legislation, investment is needed in policy,
guidance and training to ensure that those rights are translated into the reality of
children’s everyday lives.

4.1 Awareness-raising to change attitudes

If children are to have a voice, they need access to information that is both timely and
appropriate to their intellectual stage of development. Children themselves need to be
consulted on the most effective and appropriate means of disseminating knowledge
of their rights to themselves, other children, their parents and others. Partnerships
with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), youth groups and the media are also
important in this regard as they have a crucial role to play in communication and
information.

Specific investment is needed in the following areas:

ƒƒ Encouraging positive government messages
Bringing about change in attitudes and practices needs leadership from governments
in the way they talk about children, promote respect for them and recognize them
as citizens within society. This positive cultural environment can be engendered by:
»» Engaging children as citizens
»» Making the case for participation

ƒƒ Promoting information and awareness

Children cannot exercise the right to participate if they do not know they have
such a right or how to realize it. Information about rights can be included in the
school curriculum or promoted through child rights clubs in schools. Governments
should invest in publicity campaigns, disseminating the CRC in child-friendly
versions that should be developed in collaboration with children. These should also
be made available in the languages of groups that are marginalized and excluded,
such as may be the case for minorities and indigenous peoples. Dissemination can

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 be achieved through, for example, magazines, television, radio, the Internet and
social media. Materials might also be made available at youth clubs, doctors’ offices,
hospitals and clinics and religious institutions.

It is also important to ensure that information is disseminated through media

accessible to children with disabilities (for example in Braille), through appropriate
electronic formats and by signing provision on any television programming.

ƒƒ Providing sensitization for families

The CRC requires governments to “render appropriate assistance to parents and
legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and
… ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of
children” (Article 18). A key aspect of such assistance would involve education
and counselling for parents and other family members to encourage positive and
sensitive relationships with young children and to enhance their understanding of
children’s rights and best interests. Such programmes should involve both fathers
and mothers and should address:
»» Promoting respectful relationships between parents and children. This is
often a challenge: While there are longstanding assumptions in most cultures
that children should respect their parents, it is far less common for cultures to
recognize the importance of parents respecting children.
»» Involving children in decision-making.
»» Giving due weight to the views of every family member, including children
(both girls and boys).
»» Understanding, promoting and respecting children’s evolving capacities.
»» Dealing with conflicting views within the family.
»» Emphasizing the principle that both girls and boys have equal rights to
express views.

4.2 Building capacities, skills and behaviours for meaningful

participation

Programmes aimed at strengthening the capacity of children to actively participate

and claim their rights are crucial in equipping children with the ability to present their
views more effectively and without adult permission. School settings, for example,
have particular potential to spearhead a participatory, child-centred methodology that
allows adults and children to put this right into practice.

Governments should also provide sustainable and continuing pre- and in-service
training for all professionals, officials and policy makers working with and for children.
Training should be provided for:
ƒƒ Professional bodies, such as paediatric societies, to support them in adapting
existing curricula

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 Module 3: Child Participation

ƒƒ Civil society organizations that currently provide capacity-building programmes

for professionals to help them incorporate child rights into their curricula and
collaborate with governments in creating effective child rights curricula within
mainstream training
ƒƒ Universities and other academic and training institutions to encourage the
incorporation of child rights education within their curricula and to build the
capacity of teaching staff to provide training on child rights.

4.3 Establishing standards for child participation

Legal, administrative and regulatory framework for information sharing and

consultation

Participation of children cannot be guaranteed without a regulatory framework that

sets standards and creates the spaces for such consultations to take place on a regular
basis. One example might be legal reforms that give young people the right to develop
democratic structures in their schools by introducing formal mechanisms for political
dialogue between youth and officials at all levels of government.

While policy and regulatory frameworks alone do not automatically translate into
changes in practices and resource allocation, they can provide clarity and a platform
for developing common strategies and plans across programmes, agencies and
departments and create opportunities for closer collaboration between different child
rights actors and children’s and youth groups.

4.4 Ensuring mandated and allocated resources: time, money

and people

Without adequate resources – including finances, time and designated human resources
– efforts to support children’s participation are bound to be limited and unsustainable.
Resources must be not only sufficient but also mandated and protected by regulatory
framework and standards. Limited capacity in local and central government to provide
services for young people (such as schools that have difficulty in reaching vulnerable
and marginalized groups) negatively affects participation.

STRATEGIES FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Financing: Donors can ƒƒ Dedicated staff – Staff should be trained and appointed
support governments to provide a range of services to ensure governments
by contributing fulfil their obligations – for example, by managing and
to budgets that supporting children’s access and setting up complaints
acknowledge the procedures. Staff in local and national government should
costs associated with also be trained and appointed with a mandate to facilitate
sustained engagement children’s participation.
of children. ƒƒ Child-friendly government documentation – In order for

15
 children to be able to participate effectively in, for
example, consultations, advisory forums or planning
processes, they will need access to information and
materials in accessible formats.
ƒƒ Promotional materials – Creation and dissemination of
information about children’s rights can involve written
materials, posters, cartoons, television advertising or age-
appropriate websites.
ƒƒ Meetings – Wherever children are involved in participation
in meetings, at community, local, regional or national
level, there will be associated costs for travel, facilitation,
accommodation and the provision of staff to provide them
with protection and supervision.
ƒƒ Support for children’s own organizations – To be able to
establish their own organizations, children will need both
practical and financial support. For example, they may
need paid adult advisors, they will incur administrative
costs and they will need a meeting place and transport
to attend meetings. Many children’s organizations will
utilize social media for communications, which can be
exploited free of charge, but they may incur costs through
the creation of websites or the production of leaflets or
headed paper. They may also need equipment such as
computers or mobile phones to enable them to link with
other children and disseminate their work.
Investment of ƒƒ In public consultations – Whether it is in the
time: Children’s development of a national plan of action, a consultation
participation takes on legal reform, the preparation of a poverty reduction
time. Governments strategy paper or the design of a new children’s hospital,
need to recognize this the necessary time for meaningful engagement of children
and build sufficient needs to be guaranteed. A commitment to extending
time into processes timeframes to make participation possible should be
where children are to institutionalized for such processes.
be involved. ƒƒ In the courts – Any legal process involving children needs
to be timetabled to take account of the importance of
preparing children, providing them with the necessary
age-appropriate information, seeking their views
in advance of hearings and enabling sensitive and
appropriate systems for giving evidence.
ƒƒ In health care – Ensuring that children are provided with
information about proposed treatments and enabling
them to play an active part in decision-making will
necessarily involve health professionals spending more
time with individual children. This obviously presents a
challenge in many developing countries, where resources
are extremely limited. However, at a minimum, hospital
staff can provide all children with information about who
to ask for help or information about their care when
they need it or where to go if they feel unhappy with the
way they have been treated, or can develop simple and
accessible resource material to address basic questions
or concerns that all children are likely to have. Staff
should always be respectful and involve children as far as
is possible in any treatment or intervention.

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 Module 3: Child Participation

4.5 Establishing structures, procedures and mechanisms for

consultation

Mechanisms to facilitate child participation should be institutionalized. This will

ensure children are systematically consulted as opposed to their participation being
limited to what might be one-off events. For example:
ƒƒ Government structures with key responsibility for the implementation of the rights
of the child should establish direct contact with child- and youth-led organizations.
ƒƒ Governments can designate a lead authority for children’s participation to coordinate
implementation among all relevant departments, together with designating a lead
contact in each department.
ƒƒ Each relevant government department should also undertake responsibility for
ensuring children’s participation within its own area of policy.

4.6 Mobilizing children and young people to participate

Children should first and foremost be invited to participate on issues relevant to their
own experience and wider environment – home, school and community – and their
participation should progressively be institutionalized. There are many and different
mechanisms for mobilizing children and young people to participate and supporting
their civic engagement. Some examples include:
ƒƒ Establishing youth ministries (or equivalent official government agencies)
ƒƒ Forming youth bodies such as councils, parliaments, advisory boards, commissions
or forums
ƒƒ Appointing youth representatives to other government bodies
ƒƒ Creating youth policies, acts or constitutional articles or policies supporting youth
participation and civic engagement specifically
ƒƒ Incorporating youth perspectives and foci into other sectoral or national policies
and strategies
ƒƒ Creating a positive legislative environment for civil society and volunteering
ƒƒ Creating school-based community service requirements or mandatory curricula
relating to youth civic engagement
ƒƒ Establishing government-sponsored and government-run programmes
ƒƒ Funding non-governmental or school-based programmes.

See Annex 3.1 for additional opportunities for child participation at

the local and national level.

17
18
 Module 3: Child Participation

4.7 Integrating child participation in settings frequented by

children

The right to be heard extends to every part of children’s lives. While much impressive
work has been undertaken in recent years to create opportunities for children to
participate in the public arena, it is important not to forget that equal investment needs
to be made in addressing the opportunities for children to be heard in their day-to-day
lives – in the family, at school, in their health care, in institutions, in play and recreation
and in the workplace.

Schools and education

Respect for participation rights within education is fundamental to the realization of

the right to education. An entitlement to be heard within the education system should
be introduced at a number of levels:
ƒƒ Involving children in decisions affecting their education. When decisions are made
about a child’s education (such as, for example, to exclude her or him from school),
the child must have the right to appeal that decision. This will necessitate having
access to information about how to challenge the decision, where to go for help and
who can support her or him through that process.
ƒƒ Participatory child-centred learning. Children and young people should be
recognized as active contributors to their own learning rather than passive
recipients.5 Through active participation, children can be helped to acquire skills
in thinking, analysing, investigating, creating and applying knowledge to achieve
their optimum potential.
ƒƒ Establishing democratic structures within schools. Children should have the right
to establish democratic procedures, such as school councils, through which they can
express their views, influence school policies, raise issues of concern and contribute
towards building a positive learning environment.
ƒƒ Opportunities to inform the development and implementation of education
legislation and policies. Children should be involved at the local and national levels
on all aspects of education policy, including the development of school curricula,
teaching methods, school structures, standards, budgeting and resources, and child-
protection systems.
ƒƒ Support for national student organizations. Governments can introduce the right to
establish independent children’s organizations or student unions, which can play a
role in monitoring and evaluating the quality of education provided in schools and
respect for children’s rights in the education system.
(For more information, see UNICEF’s A framework for rights-based, child-friendly schools.)

Health care

Children’s participation rights have significant implications for the way health-care
treatment and health services are provided. In respect of children’s access to health
care and individual treatment, there are three distinct but linked issues that need
consideration in legislation and policy:

19
ƒƒ Involvement in decision-making. Children have a right to information and to be
involved in discussions and decisions concerning their own health care, consistent
with their level of understanding.
ƒƒ Access to confidential medical counselling. Children need access to confidential
medical counselling and advice. It is important to stress that this is distinct from the
right to give medical consent and should not be subject to any age limit.
ƒƒ Consent to treatment. As soon as the child can demonstrate the capacity to take
responsibility for decisions, she or he should be entitled to do so. As children
mature they want, and should be allowed, to make decisions for themselves about
their treatment, while continuing to get support from health professional and their
parents.

Child protection

The CRC establishes the right of children to be protected from all forms of violence and
imposes a responsibility on governments to fulfil this right for every child, without
discrimination. Children can only be protected effectively when they understand their
right to protection from violence and have access to effective mechanisms to be heard.

It is particularly difficult for a child to report an incidence of abuse in countries where

there is no tradition of children speaking up on their own behalf. The problems are
intensified in the context of sexual abuse, particularly in countries where topics related
to sex are seldom discussed or where there is a profound stigma attached to sexual
activity. In these cases, the child may have no language through which to describe what
has happened.

Donors should encourage governments to implement the findings of the UN Secretary-

General’s Study on Violence against Children, including the recommendation to
provide the space for children to freely express their views and give these views due
weight in all aspects of prevention, reporting and monitoring violence against them.6

In particular, action to ensure that children can express their views when they experience
violence, exploitation or abuse should include:
ƒƒ Establishing hotlines or websites where children can access professional help and
support in confidence.
ƒƒ Encouraging professional codes of practice providing clear guidance on children’s
right to confidentiality, and ensuring that children are provided with information
on these codes.
ƒƒ Establishing procedures for every institution (whether it is a day-care centre, school
hospital, orphanage, care home or penal institution) through which children can
report an instance of abuse.
ƒƒ Exploring mechanisms for children with disabilities or from ethnic or indigenous
groups to report violence or abuse. Many routes are not accessible to children with
disabilities – for example, they may not be in school, may be unable to access
hotlines, may be less mobile and may need alternative forms of communication.
Disabled people’s organizations, as well as children with disabilities themselves,
should explore strategies that will work for them. Article 16 of the Convention on

20
 Module 3: Child Participation

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities places a clear obligation on governments

to provide support for children with disabilities to avoid, recognize and report
instances of exploitation, violence and abuse.7
ƒƒ Supporting and facilitating children to undertake research, share information and
put forward proposals on prevention of violence.

Courts and legal systems

The responsibility to listen to and take seriously what children have to say must be
understood by all those involved in judicial and administrative proceedings. Whenever
a child is involved in a proceeding, there are four key areas that need to be considered
to ensure that the right to be heard is implemented effectively.
1. Preparation: Children are likely to feel very confused and vulnerable when facing a
court hearing. The provision of clear and practical information about the process is
a vital way to allay those fears and help children participate effectively.
2. The hearing: Children often face difficulties in pursuing breaches of their rights
and in gaining access to justice. There are two key issues to address: (a) ensuring
the legal right of the child to be heard in their own language (in age- and disability-
sensitive ways and through representation whenever necessary); and (b), ensuring
an environment where the child feels sufficiently confident to talk.
3. Assessment of the capacity of the child: A child should not be precluded from a
hearing solely on the basis of age. The court should begin with a presumption of
capacity. Only where the court has genuine concerns, based on evidence that the
child lacks capacity, should a child be denied the right to express his or her views.
4. Feedback on the weight given to the views of the child: Children are entitled to
know what decision has been made about them and to be informed about how their
views were considered. This feedback is a guarantee that the views of the child are
not heard only as a formality but are taken seriously.

21
22
 Module 3: Child Participation

TOOLS
Tool 3.1 Matrices for assessing the environment for child participation

1. ASSESSING LEGAL ENTITLEMENTS TO PARTICIPATE

LEGAL NO PROVISION LIMITED MODERATE COMPREHENSIVE
PROVISIONS PROVISION PROVISION QUALITY PROVISION
THAT IS IMPLEMENTED
Accessible No child- Rules and Child-friendly Fully functioning,
and child- friendly court procedures court procedures child-friendly
friendly court procedures for child- applied in selected procedures in all
procedures friendly court courts, mainly in courts. Children
procedures urban areas. provided with
developed information about
but not yet their rights and
put into courts obliged to
practice. consider children’s
views when deciding
matters that affect
them.
Representa- No Legal aid Legal aid Girls and boys
tion in court mechanisms mechanisms mechanisms are in in all parts of the
hearings for legal aid are being place for children country have ready
exist for developed. in certain (mostly access to legal aid
children. urban) parts of the mechanisms.
country.
Respect No legal Entitlement Entitlement to Children are entitled
for evolving provisions to express express views by law to express
capacities for children views from from age 10 their views from the
to express age 15 and and up. The earliest age possible
their views up. law provides for – in accordance with
on matters fixed ages when their capacities. In
of custody, children can give addition to fixed age
guardianship, consent to, for limits for consent,
medical example, adoption the law provides
treatment, or medical that children below
religion, etc. treatment. those ages who
can demonstrate
competence can also
give consent. Law
is understood and
implemented.
Complaints No feedback Complaints Complaints Complaints
mechanisms or complaints procedures in procedures procedures are
and means mechanisms. urban centres widely available. mandated by law
of redress accessible Follow-up, referral and easily accessible
to some and response by all children.
children. mechanisms are Follow-up, referral
Follow-up working well in and response
mechanisms some areas. mechanisms are
not effective. well-established,
accessible and
effective.

25
Child There are There is The law mandates The law mandates
protection no child no legal that children that children must
protection requirement must be heard be heard directly
proceedings that the through a body or at all stages of the
provided for child’s view’s representative. child protection
by legislation. should be process and it is
heard. implemented.
Children in All decisions Guidance to Law requires Law requires
care are made encourage that children are that children are
by adults listening to consulted on consulted on all
without children but all matters of matters of concern to
reference to no explicit concern to them them and their views
children. right for and their views given due weight.
children to be given due weight, Court officials and
heard. but it is not widely other professionals
implemented. have training in
listening to children
and apply their
learning in practice.
Children All decisions Guidance to Law requires Effective
in civil made by encourage that children are implementation
proceedings adults listening to consulted on of law requiring
(e.g., divorce, without children but issues of custody that children are
reference to no explicit and access consulted on issues
separation
children. right for and their views of custody and
and children to be represented access and that
adoption) heard. in court, but it their views are
is not widely represented in court.
implemented. No child capable of
forming a view can
be adopted against
her or his wishes.
Democratic No student Student Student councils Mandatory student
schools councils councils are widespread councils and school
exist. in some in schools. management
experimental Members of committees where
schools. The student councils students have
best students are elected by real control over
are appointed the students. important decisions.
by teachers. Children’s Student councils are
Students decision-making fully representative of
debate issues power is limited. the student body.
but have no
influence
over the final
decisions.
Parental Parents have Law provides Encouragement Law defines parental
responsibi- complete some on the part of responsibilities and
lities authority over protection government includes provision
their children. against towards more that parents must
abuse in democratic consult with children
families. parenting and when making
some parent decisions that affect
education courses them.
provided.

26
 Module 3: Child Participation

2. ASSESSING THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION

NO ACCESS TO LIMITED MODERATE COMPREHENSIVE
INFORMATION ACCESS TO ACCESS TO ACCESS TO
INFORMATION INFORMATION INFORMATION
Free and Education not Primary Primary and Primary and
compulsory free and only education secondary secondary
education compulsory compulsory education free education free and
at primary and free. and compulsory compulsory and
level. but low rates on track to meet
of enrolment, the Millennium
attendance and Development Goals
completion. for girls and boys.
Legal rights to No laws Public Legislation Government
information guarantee access to regarding documents are
information government public access broadly and easily
rights. Public documents to information accessible to the
access to is limited but is in place, public.
government expanding. but in practice
documents it is difficult
is extremely to obtain
limited. government
documents.
Access to Children have Children’s Children have All boys and girls
independent no access to access to access to have access to
information information. information is a range of a wide range of
from a wide largely limited information, but information from
to better-off large disparities various sources:
range of
children in exist between radio, television,
sources urban areas. children. libraries, books,
press, Internet,
helplines.
Information No child- or A few Child-friendly Information is
available in disability- documents information readily available in
child-friendly friendly are available is widely child- and disability-
and appropriate information is in child- available. friendly formats that
available. friendly are appropriate for
formats
formats children of different
– usually ages. Government
just one departments
format for all are mandated
children. to produce key
documents in
child- and disability-
friendly formats.
Human rights No human Willingness to Human rights in Human rights
education rights are consider the curriculum but included in the
included in the part of the inclusion of only taught in curriculum, teachers
curriculum education human rights limited number trained and teaching
curriculum. in curriculum of schools. resources provided.
but no action
yet taken.

27
Awareness of Children Better-off, A majority of All children
rights lack basic mostly older children have have adequate
knowledge in children knowledge knowledge about
a wide range in urban about their their rights,
of areas. areas have rights, sexuality, HIV
knowledge sexuality, HIV and AIDS and
about their and AIDS and contraceptive
rights, contraceptive methods and how
sexuality, HIV methods. to realize those
and AIDS and rights.
contraceptive
methods.

3. ASSESSING AWARENESS-RAISING ON CHILDREN’S CIVIL RIGHTS

NO LIMITED MODERATE COMPREHENSIVE
AWARENESS- AWARENESS- AWARENESS- AWARENESS-RAISING
RAISING RAISING RAISING
Child rights No training Some Some All pre and in-
training for available on workshops courses for service training
professionals child rights. on child professionals for professionals
working with rights provide are beginning working with and
for some to introduce for children includes
children
professional training on child child rights, as well
groups. rights. as the development
of competencies for
assessing capacity.
Programmes No Some non- Government Government has
for parent programmes governmental provides limited supported the
education available. and civil resources to development and
society civil society dissemination of
organizations organizations to parent education
provide develop parent programmes in all
parent education areas of the country.
education. programmes.

Awareness Policy Voluntary Policy makers Policy makers

of children’ makers are training in government across government
participation not informed is offered departments at local and national
rights by policy about or for policy with direct levels are trained
trained in makers. responsibility in children’s rights
makers
children’s Individual for children and provided with
rights and initiatives (e.g., health clear guidance from
not expected to involve and education) the government
to involve children are trained in about the obligation
children in in policy- children’s rights to introduce and
any policy- making take and expected support children’s
making. place. to consult with participation in
children on policy-making.
major policies.

28
 Module 3: Child Participation

4. ASSESSING OPPORTUNITIES TO INFLUENCE AGENDAS

NO INFLUENCE LIMITED MODERATE COMPREHENSIVE
INFLUENCE INFLUENCE INFLUENCE
Consultation Children Some The views of The development
on legislation, are never consultations girls and boys of all legislation,
public policies, consulted. are held are gathered policies and
services and with some systematically services affecting
children in relation to children must take
resource
on some a majority children’s views into
allocation policies. of policies account.
affecting
children.
Children are Children are Some local Public services Public services
able to provide provided health, are required implement effective
feedback with no education to establish feedback systems
on quality, opportunities and social feedback including evaluation
for feedback welfare systems forms, surveys
accessibility and
on public services including and complaints
appropriateness services. provide evaluation mechanisms.
of public complaints forms, surveys
services mechanisms. and complaints
mechanisms.
Mechanisms Policy Voluntary Policy makers Policy makers
for auditing makers are training in government across government
and inspection not informed is offered departments at local and national
involve children about or for policy with direct levels are trained
trained in makers. responsibility in children’s rights
on a systematic
children’s Individual for children and provided with
basis. rights and initiatives (e.g., health clear guidance from
not expected to involve and education) the government
to involve children are trained in about the obligation
children in in policy- children’s rights to introduce and
any policy- making take and expected support children’s
making. place. to consult with participation in
children on policy-making.
major policies.
Child No children A few youth A range of Local and national
representation are councils and effective governance bodies
in governance represented. children’s mechanisms are mandated by
bodies at local parliaments has been law to have children
exist, but developed represented.
and national
are often not for children’s
level sustained for representation
very long. at local and
national levels
and are being
spread across
the country.
Right to Children are Legislation Procedures for Children are entitled
establish prevented entitles establishing by law to form their
child-led by law from children and registering own associations
organizations forming to form child-led and to join unions.
their own their own associations Responsible
associations. associations, have been government

29
 Child workers but simplified with departments
are prevented bureaucratic the result that process applications
from joining procedures the number of for child-led
labour make it very registered child- associations in a
unions. difficult for led associations professional and
children is growing speedy manner.
to formally steadily.
register their
associations.
Existence No child-led Only a few Growing Large number of
of child-led associations types of number and different types
organizations exist. child-led diversity of of child-led
associations child-led associations are
are active, associations. active and effective
mostly for in the country.
only short
periods of
time.
Respect for Children’s Adults set the Girls and boys Child-led
children’s right associations agenda of set some of associations receive
to run their own are the children’s the agenda. support, advice
organizations completely organizations Adults listen to and resources from
controlled by and make children’s views adult civil society
adults. all important but retain final organizations
decisions. say over the without interference
agenda of the in their internal
organizations. decisions.
Access to No A few A growing Opportunities for
broadcast opportunities projects exist number of children to use
media to exist for to support opportunities broadcast media
communicate children young are available to communicate
to use journalists for children their own views
views
broadcast and to broadcast are readily and
media to reporters. their views. easily available for
communicate Access to these a majority of girls
their own opportunities is and boys (radio,
views. concentrated newspapers, ICT,
on better-off television).
children in
urban areas.
Access to No ICT Only children Over 50–70 of All boys and girls
information and available in from better- children in the have access to ICT.
communication the country. off families, country have
technology (ICT) mostly in access to ICT.
urban areas
have access
to ICT.

30
 Module 3: Child Participation

5. ASSESSING RESPECT FOR CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION IN THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES

NO DAY-TO-DAY LIMITED MODERATE COMPREHENSIVE
PARTICIPATION DAY-TO-DAY DAY-TO-DAY DAY-TO-DAY
PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION
Children are Parents Parents Parents consult Parents regularly
listened to never listen consult older adolescent involve all children,
within their own to or consult adolescent boys and including very
families children on boys on girls on some young children, in
their views. some major decisions. decisions within the
decisions. family.
Child- No child- A few schools Child-centred Child-centred
friendly and centred experiment learning and teaching methods
participatory learning and with child- teaching are mandatory in all
schools teaching centred methods have schools.
methods. teaching been promoted
methods. widely in the
country.
Access to No Individual Some free Free, accessible,
confidential confidential health centres and child- and child- and
health-care services provide adolescent- adolescent-friendly,
services available. All adolescent friendly, confidential services
children must clinics, but no confidential available throughout
get parental clear policies services the country and
consent to exist on available in widely publicized.
access health confidentiality. urban areas.
care.
Children are No children Some Doctors are A policy has been
consulted in under 18 individual encouraged drawn up requiring
decision-making years are medical to involve staff to involve
processes consulted practitioners children in their children in their
or involved consult older own health own health care
concerning their
in decisions children, but care/a policy as far as possible.
own health care, concerning no policy exists, but Age-appropriate
consistent with health care. exists. no training is information is
their evolving provided and its provided, as is
capacities implementation training for all health
is uneven. professionals on the
application of the
policy.
Children A very small A small A minority Most children
participate in minority (less minority (20–50 per volunteer regularly
activities within than 10 per (10–30 per cent). and take part in
their local cent). cent). social, cultural
or environmental
communities
activities.
Child-friendly No strategies Small-scale Most cities A comprehensive
cities or to develop initiatives have begun national strategy is
communities child-friendly to create to explore being introduced,
cities or child-friendly strategies in partnership with
communities. environments for involving children, to create
in a limited children in the child-friendly cities
number of development and communities.
communities. of child-friendly
environments.

31
Tool 3.2 Matrix for assessing the scope of child participation

This matrix can be used to assess both children’s point of entry into any particular
process and the nature of their involvement in it.

MATRIX FOR ASSESSING THE SCOPE OF CHILD PARTICIPATION

CHILDREN CONSULTATIVE COLLABORATIVE CHILD-INITIATED,
NOT INVOLVED LED OR MANAGED
Situation Children’s Children are Children undertake
analysis views are invited to their own research
solicited contribute to with other children
but the the design to identify issues
design and of the of concern.
process for methodology
information and their views
gathering as are sought
well as the for both data
analysis are collection and
undertaken by data analysis.
adults.
Strategic Planning Children are Children identify
planning takes account involved in and determine
of the issues contributing what programmes
raised by to what they would like to
children in the programmes see developed.
identification are to be
of key issues. prioritized and
developed.
Programme Children are Children work Children work
development consulted with adults on together to
and design on ideas the design of design their own
conceived by the programme programme.
adults. and deciding
what activities
will take place
and who should
be involved.
Implementation Children are Children Children organize
invited to work with and manage
participate, adults in the the programme
for example, implementation and have full
in delivering of the responsibility for
a peer programme, its implementation.
education for example,
programme. communicating
what the
programme
is seeking to
achieve and
taking part in
programme
activities.

32
 Module 3: Child Participation

Monitoring and Children are Children Children determine

evaluation consulted on collaborate what should be
whether the with adults in evaluated and,
programme developing with adult support,
has been the criteria for undertake the
successful in evaluating the evaluation of the
achieving its programme programme.
objectives. and they are
consulted on
whether the
programme has
been successful
in achieving its
objectives.

33
Tool 3.3 Matrix for assessing the quality of child participation

This matrix can be used to identify the extent to which the basic requirements for
ethical and meaningful participation have been adhered to when children are given
opportunities to participate. The overall picture will provide clear guidance as to what
needs to improve and how.

MATRIX FOR ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF CHILD PARTICIPATION

REQUIREMENT AND STANDARDS STANDARD AWARENESS EFFORTS TO STANDARD
HAS NOT BEEN BUT NOT ADDRESS IMPLEMENTED
CONSIDERED REFLECTED IN BUT NO AND
PRACTICE SYSTEMATIC MONITORED
PROCEDURES
IN PLACE
1: Participation is transparent and informative
Children understand what
the programme is about and
feel confident and informed
about the nature and scope
of their participation.

The roles and responsibilities

of all involved are clearly
defined and understood.

Clear goals and targets

are agreed upon with the
children concerned.

2: Participation is voluntary
All participating children
have voluntarily, and without
coercion, agreed to be
involved in the process.

Children are given time to

consider their involvement.

Children can withdraw at any

time if they wish.

3: Participation is respectful
Children’s time commitments
are respected and
accommodated.

Ways of working and

methods of involvement
incorporate and build on
local structures, knowledge
and practice and take into
account social, economic
and cultural practices.

34
 Module 3: Child Participation

Support for key adults in

children’s lives is gained to
ensure wider encouragement
and assistance for the
participation of children.

4: Participation is relevant
The issues are of real
relevance to children’s own
lives.

Children do not feel

pressurized by adult support
workers to participate in
processes that they do not
perceive as important or
relevant to their lives.

5: Participation is child friendly

Ways of working are
developed in partnership
with children and build
the self-esteem and self-
confidence of boys and
girls of different ages and
abilities.

Sufficient time and resources

are made available for
quality participation, and
children are properly
supported to prepare for
their participation.

Child-friendly meeting
places are used where
girls and boys feel relaxed
and comfortable and have
access to the facilities they
need. The meeting places
are accessible to children
with disabilities.

Children are asked what

information they need and
accessible information is
shared with children in
good time, in child-friendly
formats and in languages
that the children understand,
including children with visual
or hearing impairments.

Recognition is given to the

need for participation to be
fun and enjoyable.

35
6: Participation is inclusive
All children have an equal
chance to participate and
voice their opinions through
systems that ensure that
they are not discriminated
against on grounds of age,
race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic
or social origin, property,
disability, birth or other
status.
Efforts are made to ensure
the equal participation of all
children consistent with their
evolving capacities.
Those working with children
facilitate an environment that
is non-discriminatory and
inclusive.
Positive discrimination
measures are introduced
where they are needed to
ensure the equal inclusion of
all children.
Influential adults are
engaged to gain family
and community support
for the participation of
discriminated-against
groups.
The initiative is sensitive to
the cultural context of all
participating children within
a framework of universal
rights.
7: Participation is supported by training for adults
All staff and managers are
sensitized to children's
participation and are
committed to children’s
participation.
Staff are provided with
appropriate training,
tools, supervision support
and other development
opportunities in participatory
practice to enable them
to work effectively and
confidently with children of
different ages and abilities.

36
 Module 3: Child Participation

Staff regularly evaluate their

participation practice.
Staff are able to express
any views or anxieties
about involving children in
the expectation that these
will be addressed in a
constructive way.
8: Participation is safe and sensitive to risk
These standards are
used in conjunction with
agencies’ child protection
policies, which are well
communicated and
understood by all staff
involved in the process.
The protection rights of
children are paramount
in the way children’s
participation is planned and
organized.
Children involved in
participation work are aware
of their right to be safe from
abuse and know where to go
for help if needed.
Careful assessment is made
of the risks associated with
children’s participation in
speaking out, campaigning
or advocacy. Depending
on the risks identified,
steps may be needed to
protect children’s identity
or to provide follow-up
measures to give protection
(e.g., to ensure their safe
reintegration into their
communities).
Consent is obtained for
the use of all information
provided by children, and
information identified as
confidential is safeguarded
at all times.
Children involved in
participatory activities
have access to a safe and
confidential complaints
procedure in respect of
any issue concerning their
involvement.

37
No photographs, videos
or digital images of a child
can be taken or published
without that child’s explicit
consent for a specific use.

Unless otherwise agreed,

it must not be possible to
trace information back to
individual/groups of children.

9: Participation is accountable
Children are supported to
participate in follow-up and
evaluation processes.

Follow up and evaluation

is addressed during
the planning stages as
an integral part of any
participation initiative.

All children involved are

given rapid and clear
feedback on the impact
of their involvement, the
outcome of any decisions/
next steps and the value of
their involvement.

Mistakes identified through

evaluation are acknowledged
and commitments given
about how lessons learned
will be used to improve
participatory processes in
the future.

Adults evaluate how

they have translated
and implemented
children’s priorities and
recommendations into their
policies, strategies and
programmes.

Sustainability of support
is discussed with children.
Adults provide clear
feedback to children
regarding the extent/limit
of their commitment to
support children’s on-going
initiatives and organizations.
If on-going support is not
possible, adults provide
children with resources and

38
 Module 3: Child Participation

support to make contact

with other agencies who can
support them

Children are supported to

participate in follow-up and
evaluation processes.

39
Tool 3.4 List of outcome indicators

This matrix provides an illustrative framework as a guide in monitoring the outcomes

associated with children’s participation in respect of each of the relevant stakeholders.
It would need to be adapted for each programme based on the anticipated outcomes. It
can then be used during and at the end of the programme to help measure whether those
objectives have been achieved and what needs to change to improve the programme.

1. PROCESS OUTCOMES
EFFECTS NEGATIVE NO PROGRESS SOME SUBSTANTIAL
PROGRESS PROGRESS PROGRESS
On children
Acquisition of skills and
knowledge
Enhanced self esteem and
self confidence
Level of rights awareness
Sense of efficacy and
empowerment
On parents and staff
Greater awareness of
children’s rights
Awareness of children’s
capacities
Greater understanding of the
importance of listening to
children
Willingness to consult with
children
Greater sensitivity to
children’s rights and needs
Improved quality of
relationships with children
On institutions
Change in organizational
culture towards greater
respect for children’s rights
Willingness of staff to
reconsider power balances
Children’s participation built
in to all programme areas
Changes in programmes to
reflect children’s concerns
and priorities

40
 Module 3: Child Participation

On local community
Improved status of children
within the community

2. EXTERNAL OR STRUCTURAL OUTCOMES

(illustrative only – each initiative would need to identify its own objectives and desired outcomes)
OUTCOME NEGATIVE NO CHANGE IMMEDIATE SIGNIFICANT
CHANGE/HARM OUTCOMES AND SUSTAINED
ARISING FROM CHANGE/CHANGE CHANGE
PARTICIPATION ONLY IN SOME ACKNOWLEDGED
STAKEHOLDERS/ BY CHILDREN
NO AND ADULTS
SUSTAINABILITY

Legal/policy reform
The age of marriage is
raised.
Corporal punishment in
the family and all other
environments is ended.
The right of children to
access confidential medical
advice and counselling is
established.
Primary and secondary
education is compulsory and
free.
Legislation on child labour
is introduced, implemented
and monitored in dialogue
with children themselves.
Awareness of children’s rights
Children have knowledge
about their rights and how to
realize them.
Human rights education
is included in the school
curriculum.
Policy makers are sensitive
to and aware of children’s
right to participation.
Opportunities to influence public decisions
Children are consulted
on local and national
government legislation,
policies, services and
resource allocations.

41
Children are represented
in local and national
governance bodies.
Children have the right
to establish their own
organizations.
Children have the
opportunity to use broadcast
and online media to
communicate their own
views.
Political commitment to respect children’s rights
Government provides
transparent budget
indicating levels of
expenditure on children.
Social protection policies
address and are informed
by the rights and needs of
children.
Respect for rights in the daily lives of children
Schools provide a child-
friendly, participatory
learning environment.
Children are involved in
decision-making processes
concerning their own health
care, consistent with their
evolving capacities.
Children can access
confidential health-
care services, including
reproductive health care.
Children participate in
local community actions or
decision-making processes.
Child-friendly cities and
communities are introduced.
Schools provide a child-
friendly, participatory
learning environment.

42
 Module 3: Child Participation

ANNEXES
Annex 3.1 Opportunities for child participation at local and national
levels

At the local level

There are many models and opportunities for children’s engagement. The approach
taken will depend on the nature of the local community, the issues concerned, the
cultural environment and any existing structure or mechanisms available. Donors can
support local authorities to introduce and support such initiatives and take account of
the views that are expressed through them. Some approaches that might be developed
include the following:8

OPPROTUNITIES FOR CHILD PARTICIPATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

Child-led Children need the opportunity to organize among themselves to
initiatives and identify issues of concern to them and determine how to address
organizations these. Facilitating and strengthening children’s organizations
and networks has proved to be an effective strategy to help
children and young people become active citizens by providing
them with the experience of democracy and increasing their
power to claim their rights. Such organizations offer children the
opportunity to come together to share their experiences, access
information and analyse issues and power relations that affect
them. Through their participation and organization, children have
increased realization of their rights to protection, development
and survival9 and contributed to community development and
wider development and peace processes.10 Networking among
child-led organizations should be actively encouraged to increase
opportunities for shared learning and platforms for collective
advocacy.
Representation on Local committees that deal, for example, with education, forest
local bodies with management, housing, child protection and water conservation
responsibility for and utilization should include representatives of child-led
management of organizations. In addition, children can play a key role in the
management and updating of data and information related
local issues
to their local community. Their active engagement will enable
improved planning and monitoring of the situation of children and
youth by local governments.
Targeted Such consultations enable children in general or specific groups
consultations on of children to contribute their perspectives. For example, children
local policy issues can be invited to comment on the design of parks, school
playgrounds, health facilities and local transport systems to
ensure more appropriate services; children with disabilities might
be engaged to undertake an audit of the accessibility of local
transport and buildings; children across a wide age range might
be involved in determining how safe a given area is for children
and what might be done to reduce the dangers to which they are
exposed.
Politicians These can create additional opportunities for communication.
‘surgeries’ or Local councillors or members of parliament can set up sessions
consultations specifically for children and publicize where and when those
sessions will take place. They can also undertake visits to school
and kindergartens in order to hear directly from children.
43
Local youth These bodies create opportunities for participation in decision-
parliaments making and must be managed by children and young people
and municipal themselves, with the active support of and facilitation by adults.
children’s councils They need to have formal and regular access to local elected
decision-making bodies and to be respected and taken seriously
at that level. Many such bodies have been set up, and some have
been allocated budgets to spend on issues of local concern.
Research to Research can be undertaken by and with children. Children can
inform policy and participate in identifying the gaps in knowledge about a particular
service provision dimension of their lives, developing the research questions and
methodology, undertaking the surveys or interviews, analysing the
data and formulating recommendations.
Local media Opportunities should be provided for children to develop their
initiatives own local newspapers, run their own radio programmes and
contribute to the mainstream media. These spaces for children
can be a means of enabling them to share information on rights
with other children, raise awareness of issues of importance for
children and campaign for changes they see as necessary.
Peer education Peer education allows children to provide information, support
and awareness to other children. Examples include initiatives
where children take literacy programmes out to children working
and living on the streets and health education programmes to
share information on HIV and AIDS or hygiene and sanitation.
Children as Children can be involved in investigating local hospital and health
monitors or services, the police and schools to monitor whether they are
auditors of local complying with the principles and standards of the CRC. They
services can undertake investigations to assess whether indicators have
been met, and then engage in a dialogue with the relevant service
providers to share their findings and explore what action might be
taken to improve outcomes.
Community Involving children in dialogue with other members of the
dialogue community can be an effective approach to conflict resolution,
building resilience and reinforcing cultural and community assets.
One model for such dialogue is the Circles of Care in which local
governments in partnership with local communities build a circle
of care around children (or other vulnerable groups) – for example,
the family, the school or the community. It uses a participatory
approach to promote resilience within each of these circles. It
builds on the development of strategies that are culturally relevant
and sensitive and is rooted in the perspectives of children and
young people themselves as well as those of the adults who have
responsibility for them.

44
 Module 3: Child Participation

OPPROTUNITIES FOR CHILD PARTICIPATION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

Institutionalize This might include legislative reform, policy-making, planning,
child participation data collection and resource allocation. For example:
at all levels of ƒƒ Children can inform the planning, design, implementation
government and evaluation of processes such as national plans of action
decision-making and poverty reduction strategy papers. Relevant government
documents should be translated into child-friendly language to
make it easier for children to participate.
Mechanisms for
their engagement ƒƒ In order to strengthen the mechanisms to protect children
might include: from on-line sexual abuse and exploitation, it is essential
to engage in dialogue with children about how they use
ƒƒ Children’s the Internet, the degrees and nature of risks they face, the
parliaments strategies they adopt to protect themselves and the policies
ƒƒ Youth advisory they would like to see put in place by governments. Children
committees are likely to be far greater experts than adults in understanding
ƒƒ National what happens in those environments, and their expertise needs
or regional to be acknowledged when developing laws and policies to
consultations reduce exposure to risk.
ƒƒ Dialogue with ƒƒ Children with disabilities will be the greatest source of
children through knowledge with regard to the discrimination and social
electronic media exclusion they face and can contribute significantly towards
understanding the attitudinal, communication, physical and
ƒƒ Focus groups on mobility barriers that need to be removed before they can
specific issues
realize their rights.11 It is also worth noting that Article 4 of the
ƒƒ Collaboration Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities introduces
with existing a requirement to consult with representative organizations of
children’s children with disabilities in these processes.
Create a In many countries throughout the world children are now actively
supportive involved in developing their own forums such as working
environment children’s unions, student unions, parliaments, clubs and other
for the creation bodies. Governments need to support these developments and
can play an active role in ensuring that there is a legal framework
of child-led
conducive to the establishment of child-led organizations. They
organizations can provide financial support, establish clear guidelines on how
the views these bodies present will be taken into account in the
formal political process and ensure that children are provided with
adequate responses in relation to their proposals
Involve children Children can play an important role in monitoring the realization
in monitoring of their rights. It is not sufficient to rely on data or evidence
implementation of produced by adults alone or to make recommendations for action
their rights to strengthen the implementation of rights without regard to
children’s own perspectives. Children can be involved in agreeing
indicators and monitoring the implementation of all the rights
enshrined in the CRC, including within the family and alternative
family environments, and the impact of their participation on
policy, court decisions and programme implementation. They
can be directly involved in research both as respondents and
researchers.12

45
Involve children In many countries, NGOs, including national alliances on
in the reporting children’s rights, have involved children in the process of parallel
process to the reporting under the CRC, including their presence during
Committee on the pre-session country briefings with the Committee.13 Children’s
engagement in this process strengthens their capacity to play an
Rights of the Child
active role in identifying human rights aspects in need of further
attention and monitoring the implementation of concluding
observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child at the
national level. The Committee also proposes that governments
“… actively involve children in the periodic review process” of the
CRC. It urges children to play an active role in identifying human
rights aspects in need of further attention and monitoring the
implementation of concluding observations at the national level.14
It encourages NGOs to continue to engage children directly in the
process of shadow reporting, and encourages the presence of
children during pre-sessional country briefings.15
Support children’s Children can play a key role in national, regional and international
participation conferences. Recent examples include the UN Special Session
in national and on Children in 2002, the regional consultations for the UN Study
international on Violence in 2005, the World Congress on Sexual Exploitation
of Children in 2009 and the involvement of children in the J8
forums
sessions that have been organized by UNICEF alongside the G8
meetings of Heads of State. Participation at this level enables
children to bring their concerns to the world’s leaders and seeks
to ensure that they are not marginalized in the face of other
powerful and competing lobbies. Governments should take active
measures to facilitate children’s involvement in relevant events.16

46
 Module 3: Child Participation

Annex 3.2 Approaches to integrating child participation in programming

Participation can take many forms and engage children in different ways and at different
levels. There are three broad approaches to integrating child participation during the
programming process. Each offers a different degree of opportunity for children to
influence matters affecting them, and each is appropriate in different circumstances.

1. Consultative participation: Adults seek children’s views in order to build knowledge

and understanding of their lives and experience. It can be characterized as:
ƒƒ Adult initiated
ƒƒ Adult led and managed
ƒƒ Lacking any possibility for children to control outcomes.

Although it does not transfer decision-making processes to children themselves,

consultative participation recognizes that children have expertise and perspectives
that need to inform adult decision-making. Consultation is an appropriate means of
enabling children to express views when undertaking research, in planning processes,
in developing legislation, policies or services, in decisions affecting individual children
within the family, in health care or education, or when children are witnesses in judicial
or administrative proceedings.

47
2. Collaborative participation: There is a greater degree of partnership between adults
and children and the opportunity for active engagement at any stage of a decision,
initiative, project or service. It can be characterized as:
ƒƒ Adult initiated
ƒƒ Involving partnership with children
ƒƒ Empowering children to influence or challenge both process and outcomes
ƒƒ Allowing for increasing levels of self-directed action by children over a period of
time.

Collaborative participation might include involving children in designing and

undertaking research, policy development, peer education and counselling,
participation in conferences or representation on boards or committees. Individual
decisions within the family, in education and in health care can also be collaborative
rather than consultative, involving children more fully in decision-making processes.

48
 Module 3: Child Participation

3. Child-led participation: Children are afforded the space and opportunity to initiate
activities and advocate for themselves. It is characterized by:
ƒƒ Issues of concern being identified by children themselves
ƒƒ Adults serving as facilitators rather than leaders
ƒƒ Children controlling the process.

Children can initiate action as individuals (for example, in choosing a school, seeking
medical advice, pressing for the realization of their rights through the courts or utilizing
complaints mechanisms). They can also initiate action as a constituency by establishing
and managing their own organizations for the purposes of policy analysis, advocacy
and awareness raising; through peer representation and education; and through the
use of and access to the media. The role of adults in child-led participation is to act as
facilitators to enable children to pursue their own objectives, providing information,
advice and support.

49
Annex 3.3 References/resources

1. Commission of the European Communities, ‘A Special Place for Children in EU External

Action’, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament,
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions,
Brussels, 2008.
2. Commission of the European Communities, ‘The European Union’s Action Plan on
Children’s Rights in External Action’, Brussels, 2008.
3. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5: General measures
of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Thirty-fourth session,
Geneva, 19 September–3 October 2003.
4. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 9: The rights of children
with disabilities, Forty-third session, Geneva, 11–29 September 2006.
5. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 12: The right of the child to be
heard, Fifty-first session, Geneva, 25 May-12 June 2009.
6. Council of the European Union, ‘Council Conclusions on the Promotion and Protection
of the Rights of the Child in the European Union’s External Action: The development and
humanitarian dimensions’, 2870th External Relations Council meeting, Brussels, 26 and
27 May 2008.
7. Feinstein, Clare and Claire O’Kane, Ethical Guidelines for Ethical, Meaningful and
Inclusive Children’s Participation Practice, Save the Children Norway 2008.
8. Hart, Roger, A., Children’s Participation: The theory and practice of involving young
citizens in community development and environmental care, Routledge, New York, 1997.
9. Hart, Jason, et. al., Understanding and Evaluating Children’s Participation in
Development, Plan Ltd and Plan International UK, London 2004.
10. Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation, Operations Manual on
Children’s Participation in Consultations, IAWGCP, Bangkok, 2007.
11. International Save the Children Alliance, ‘Practice Standards on Child Participation’,
Save the Children, London, 2005.
12. Lansdown, Gerison, ‘Promoting Children’s Participation in Democratic Decision-
making’, United Nations Children’s Fund, New York, 2002.
13. Lansdown, Gerison, ‘Can You Hear Me? The right of young children to participate in
decisions affecting them’, Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Hague, 2005.
14. Lansdown, Gerison, See Me, Hear Me: A guide to using the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote the rights of children, Save the Children,
London, 2009.
15. Lansdown, Gerison, Every Child’s Right to be Heard: A resource guide on the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 12, Save the Children and
United Nations Children’s Fund, 2011.
16. Laws, Sophie and Gillian Mann, ‘So You Want to Involve Children in Research? A
toolkit supporting children’s meaningful and ethical participation in research relating to
violence against children’, Save the Children Sweden, Stockholm, 2004.
17. Miller, Jenn, ‘Children as Change Agents: A review of child participation in periodic
reporting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child’, World Vision, Ontario, 2008.

50
 Module 3: Child Participation

18. NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, A Guide for Non-
governmental Organizations Reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, NGO
Group, Geneva, 2006.
19. O’Kane, Claire, ‘Children and Young People as Citizens: Partners for social change –
Exploring concepts’, Save the Children Sweden, Kathmandu, 2003.
20. Rajbhandary, Jasmine, Roger Hart, and Chandrika Khatiwada, The Children’s Clubs of
Nepal: A democratic experiment, Save the Children Norway, Kathmandu, 1997.
21. Save the Children, Getting it Right for Children: A practitioners guide to child rights
programming, Save the Children UK, London, 2007.
22. United Nations, ‘United Nations Millennium Declaration’, New York, 8 September
2000.
23. United Nations, ‘A World Fit for Children’, A/RES/S-27/2, New York, 2002.
24. United Nations, ‘Report of the Independent Expert for the United Nations Study on
Violence against Children’, A/61/299, 29 August 2006.
25. United Nations, ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’, New York,
2007.
26. United Nation’s Children’s Fund, Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide,
UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2006.
27. United Nations Children’s Fund, A World Fit for Us: The Children’s Statement from the
UN Special Session on Children – five years on, UNICEF, New York, 2007.
28. United Nations Children’s Fund, Machel Study 10-year Strategic Review: Children and
conflict in a changing world, UNICEF, New York, 2009.

Websites
29. [Link] – the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) is a network of child
rights organizations that work to improve the lives of children.
30. [Link]/adolescence/cypguide/resourceguide_intro.html – child and youth
participation online resource directory.
31. [Link]/specialsession/child_participation/[Link] – on children’s
participation at the Special session and related links.
32. [Link]/polls – information on large-scale polls among children in East Asia
and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
33. [Link] – the Voice of the Youth homepage.
34. [Link]/magic – for media initiatives aimed involving young people.
35. [Link]/teachers – UNICEF’s website for teachers includes ideas on how to
involve children as researchers and on child-friendly schools.
36. [Link] – for ideas on participatory urban planning.
37. [Link]/most/[Link] – for the ‘Growing Up In Cities‘ initiative.
38. [Link] – home page of the Save the Children Alliance.
39. [Link]/FMRAMWVYV0 – World Bank site on participation and civic
engagement, with direct links to sources on participatory tools methods.
40. [Link]/ids – the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex is one of the
leading centres for research and teaching on participatory development.

51
41. [Link]/en/about/issues/youth – OXFAM’s website includes a page on its
International Youth Partnership.
42. [Link] – site of the UK National Children’s Bureau, for
free downloads of a wide variety of books and papers on children’s participation.
43. [Link] – the Children’s Environments
Research Group (CERG) provides an important link between university scholarship and
the development of design, policy and programmes that both improve the quality of
environments for children and enhance children’s interaction with them.
44. [Link] – a site with information on how to set up and run school
councils.
45. [Link]/youth – the UN Programme on Youth is the focal point on youth within the
United Nations. It aims to build awareness of the global situation of young people as well
as promote their rights and aspirations.
46. [Link]/public/adolescents – the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
has a focus on adolescents and youth based on the recognition that young people,
particularly those living in poverty, have been virtually ignored in policies and programmes
and that this period of their lives is a critical transition between childhood and taking on
adult responsibilities.

52
 Module 3: Child Participation

ENDNOTES

1. Jason, 17. Youth Force Member, Bronx, NY. quoted in Lansdown, Gerison, Every Child’s
Right to be Heard: A resource guide on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child General
Comment No. 12, Save the Children and United Nations Children’s Fund, 2011.
2. Op cit., Lansdown, 2011.
3. Heidi Grande, 17, child delegate from Norway to the UN Special Session on Children, 2002
4. Op, cit. Lansdown, 2011.
5. See General Comment No. 5 on General measures of implementation of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2003, para. 24.
6. United Nation’s Children’s Fund, Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide, UNICEF East
Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2006.
7. For more information on the rights of children with disabilities, see Lansdown, Gerison, See
Me, Hear Me: A guide to using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to
promote the rights of children, Save the Children, London, 2009.
8. It is not possible in this handbook to capture the full range of potential activities in which
children might be engaged. For more information and an overview of publications on
children’s participation, see United Nation’s Children’s Fund, Child and Youth Participation
Resource Guide, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2006.
9. See ‘O’Kane, Claire, Children and Young People as Citizens: Partners for social change – Exploring
concepts, Save the Children Sweden, Kathmandu, 2003; and Save the Children, Getting it Right
for Children: A practitioners guide to child rights programming, Save the Children UK, London,
2007.
10. See Hart, Jason, et. al., Understanding and Evaluating Children’s Participation in Development,
Plan Ltd and Plan International UK London, 2004. Also see Feinstein, Clare and Claire
O’Kane, Ethical Guidelines for Ethical, Meaningful and Inclusive Children’s Participation Practice,
Save the Children Norway 2008; and United Nations Children’s Fund, Machel Study 10-year
Strategic Review: Children and conflict in a changing world, UNICEF, New York, 2009.
11. General Comment No. 9: The rights of children with disabilities, Committee on the Rights of
the Child, 2007.
12. See Laws, Sophie and Gillian Mann, So You Want to Involve Children in Research? A toolkit
supporting children’s meaningful and ethical participation in research relating to violence against
children, Save the Children Sweden, Stockholm, 2004.
13. For detailed guidance on how to involve children in the reporting process, see Miller,
Jennifer, Children as Change Agents: A review of child participation in periodic reporting on the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, World Vision, Canada, 2008.
14. Committee on the Rights of the Child, Report of the forty-third session, September 2006, Day
of General Discussion, Recommendations, para. 31.
15. Ibid., para. 36.
16. For guidance on involving children in conferences and high-level events, see Lansdown,
Gerison, Promoting Children’s Participation in Democratic Decision-making, UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre, Italy, 2002.

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