EU-CORD Child Participation Workshop

1. EU-CORD Child Participation Workshop Questions, dilemmas, tools, tips and resources identified at the workshop

2. Questions and Dilemmas • Good guidelines/checklists on how to ensure child participation at all stages of the programme cycle? • What to do when child participation legitimises something we don’t support (e.g. physical punishment)? • Good trainers in respective countries? • Good examples of awareness-raising at partner level? • Do we speak out on child participation in our own contexts? • Is child participation easily promoted where the economy is not a big issue (i.e. where even the poor have enough food)? • Programmes for, with, by children / children as change agents: what are criteria for good implementation? When to apply them? • « Effective and genuine participation is time-consuming, costly and potentially physically and emotionally demanding » – are we ready for this? • How to select children for participation? Is true representation the most broadly representative group of children, or is it a group of children voted for by other children?

3. Tools and Tips • Exchange visits • Sharing good trainers to train partners and staff • Information mechanism on training in Asia/Africa • Come up with lobby issues as a combined/joined effort • PICD • Child Status Index • Practical tools for child participation: calendars, mapping, daily activities chart, dream trees, problem trees, child-to-child interviews, songs, drama, focus groups, community walks, consultations, research.

4. Resources • PRA with children, Praxis, Institute for Participatory Practices. More information: http://www.praxisindia.org/PRAtopicpacks • Children’s Participation in Decision Making, Inter Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation. • Beyond Article 12:Essential Readings in Children’s Participation, Knowing Children, Bangkok. More information: http://www.knowingchildren.org/reading.php • Hear Our Voices! Making Sure Young People’s Voices are Heard, Stop Aids Now, Amsterdam • Adults First! An organisational training on children’s participation, Henk van Beers, CRF Cambodia • Children and participation: Research, monitoring and evaluation with children and young people, Save the Children • The National Child Participation Guide for Uganda: Creating an Environment for Children to be Heard, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network and UNICEF • Reinforcing Child Participation, The Civil Society Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Save the Children 2012 • www.clarehanbury.com, Clare Hanbury, consultant and specialist in children’s participation • A World Fit for Children, UN Resolution, 2002 • EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, EU, 2007 • I Have a Voice! Recommendations for Including Child Participation in European Union Decision-Making, Plan International, 2010

5. Resources • Participation - Spice it Up!, Save the Children. More information: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/participation-%E2%80%94-spice-it • Children’s Participation in OVC Programming, Save the Children, 2004. More information: http://www.ovcsupport.net/s/library.php?p=7&lc=&lk=orphans+and+other+vulnerable+children&la=0&lo=0 • So you want to consult with children? A toolkit of good practice, Save the Children, 2003 • Participatory Workshops: a sourcebook of 21 sets of ideas and activities, Robert Chambers, Earthscan 2002. More information: • Children as Partners in Planning: A training resource to support consultation with children, Save the Children 2001. More information: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/children-partners-planning-training-resource-support-consultation-children • Stepping Forward: Children and Young People’s Participation in the Development Process, ITDG, 2001. More information: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=1441 • Understanding and Evaluating Children’s Participation: A review of contemporary literature, Plan International, 2003 • Children, participation, projects – how to make it work!, Council of Europe, 2004 • Child Participation, Roots Resources, Tearfund, 2004