ACERWC 3rd CSO Forum Child Participation Presentation English

8/7/2019 ACERWC 3rd CSO Forum Child Participation Presentation English

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What approach will the CSO Forum take?

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ResearchFindings

- Benefits aren t acknowledged- Reluctance and lack of support.- Children denied opportunities.-

Meaningful participation is a process opposition.- Participation not viewed as a right.

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African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRW) Art 7, 8, 9 & 10.

African Youth Charter (2006) the right of youth to participate in thedevelopment of the continent and in decision making at local, national, regionaland continental levels of governance .P lan of Action on Africa Fit for Children the right of youth and children toparticipate .

UN Child Rights Convention (Art 5,9,12, 13,14,15 & 17)

UN Convention on the Rights of P ersons with Disabilities (UN CRPD)Art 21, 29& 30.U niversal Declaration of Human Rights (Art 19 and 23) which also provides uswith four major principles that of universality, accountability, indivisibility as wellas participation.

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Children are rights holders. They too have civiland political rights. They are citizens andtherefore also have the right to take part inmatters that concern them. If we do not startsupporting children, through their variousgrowth and development stages in makingmeaningful decisions, how can we expect them

to become active citizens as adults? We shouldbe able to consult them; acknowledge them andtheir views whether at home, school or a publicforum like this one. Participation is a right .

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For children to exercise their right to participation fully, they need tohave the power to claim this right. This does not necessarily mean thatadults should make children feel powerful, but rather that adultscontinue to assume their adult roles and responsibilities, whilst providingsupport, direction and fostering or creating an environment wherechildren are not perceived as being as passive, totally dependent andirrational i.e. childish . This means honestly interrogating whether or notas adults, we support children to make decisions and take action. Itmeans balancing power , and not always being defensive and feelingthreatened when children participate because they will question thatpower as we all so, sometimes. As adults, we need to provide support

to children by giving them responsibilities they can meet and not settingthem up for failure by providing complex tasks. As adults we have tocreate a safe, open environment where children will feel free to expressthemselves, their feelings and thoughts.

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Children are perceptive. They are curious. They areknowledgeable and are able to absorb a lot of information that they readily question, analyse andseek to understand. Child participation is essentiallyabout acknowledging these abilities recognising,respecting and encouraging children to utilise their

abilities to make decisions about their daily lives.Meaningful child participation entails taking children sviews and opinions seriously, seeing children first ashuman beings and affording them equal rights. Areyou able to see a child as your equal?

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It is important to acknowledge that in the final analyses, it really is only a child slevel of maturity that determines the weight with which adults should gauge achild s opinion. Let me emphasise what I mean by this: a child s ability to make adecision is not static, but it evolves. What a five year old thinks about voting for

class reps at school is going to be different what she will feel at 7 or 10 years of age. Like an adult, a child s perceptions will change with time, depending on theenvironment in which a child is in, and the experiences acquired. Therefore, atdifferent stages of their lives and at different ages, children will have variouscompetencies. This is an issue of evolving capacities respecting andacknowledging that children have different capabilities depending on their age,experiences and maturity. If children are not allowed and supported inparticipating, how will they become responsible, capable and mature humanbeings? Like adults, children build their confidence and capabilities throughacquiring experience and it is our responsibility as adults to support them bycreating environments which enable them to progressively build their capacitiesthrough taking part in action and decision making. Let us begin respecting ourchildren.

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SEL F RE P RESE NT ATION

Is it meaningful for children to be present at the CSOForum? In what way will children benefit from being here?

Are children s best interests being promoted byencouraging them to participate at the CSO Forum?

How can children form part of our organizing, planning andlogistics team?

How are we going to select children to attend the forumand ensure that they are representative? How legitimate isthe selection process going to be?

Who will the children be representing when they attend theCSO Forum?

How are we going to prepare children prior to attending theForum?

How is the Forum and its proceedings going to be madechild-friendly?

In what way are children going to relate/ participate withadults? What will the children s role be/ what will the adult srole be?

RE P RESE NT E D

How can children provide opinions about whatgoes on in this forum how do we capture andconsider their views?To what extent do we consult children for theirviews before we come to the forum, representingthem and their interests?

In what way can children evaluate and assess theactivities at this forum, and hold us accountablefor activities and responsibilities we havecommitted to undertake?

Furthermore, what should the CSO Forum do toensure that we take children s views into accountwhen making decisions that affect them?

How is the Forum going to acknowledge, respectand value the views of children?

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Child participation is a right.

It is Save the Children s sincere wish that atthe end of this forum, we would have had theopportunity to openly initiate and partake inan honest dialogue about what children s

participation means and how this house, theCSO Forum, can promote and deliver onmeaningful child participation opportunitiesand processes.

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Documents

ACERWC 3rd CSO Forum Child Participation Presentation English