Child and youth participation resource guide
Participation in programme areas
Protection from abuse, violence and exploitation
Ancheta-Templa Mae Fe, et al., Understanding Children in Conflict with the Law: Contradictions on victimization, survivor behaviour and the Philippines justice system. A study of the situation of children in conflict with the law in Davao, Save the Children UK, Manila, 2005.
This study examines the situation and context of children in conflict with the law in Davao City and their experiences with the juvenile justice system. The study involved all stakeholder groups, including children with personal experience of the justice system. It provides insights into many gaps in the fulfilment of the civil rights of children in contact with the law, such as lack of standard procedures in case handlings, violation of protocols in the handling of children, absence of policies and guidelines in the law enforcement systems and unclear roles and functions of court social workers.
Barker, Gary, Engaging Young Men in Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion, Instituto PROMUNDO, Brazil, 2002. (Also available in PDF)
This report shares experiences in working with young men in violence prevention and in promoting reproductive and sexual health. It emphasizes the need to focus more on young men to redress gender inequalities. It also gives recommendations for the active involvement of young men in these programmes.
Brown, Nicole A., Promoting Adolescent Livelihoods, A discussion paper prepared for the Commonwealth Youth Programme and UNICEF, 2001.
This paper examines young people’s economic contributions and livelihoods. It looks at adolescents and their motivations for economic participation and examines issues of gender, education, enterprise and sustainable livelihoods, conflict situations and HIV/AIDS. It makes recommendations for improving livelihood opportunities for adolescents.
Email: tacro@unicef.org
Caouette, Therese M., Small Dreams Beyond Reach: The lives of migrant children and youth along the borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand, A participatory action research project, Save the Children UK, Bangkok, 2001.
This participatory action research was undertaken by Save the Children to fill the gap in knowledge in regard to the growing numbers of children and youth migrating across the borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand. Migrant children and youth were involved in every step of the research process.
de Castro, Elizabeth Protacio, Faye A. G. Balanon, Agnes Zenaida V. Camacho, et al., Integrating Child Centred Approaches in Children’s Work. Programme on Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights, Center for Integrative and Development Studies, University of the Philippines, Save the Children (UK) Philippines and UP CIDS PST, ISBN 971-742-079-3, 2002.
This is a report of a workshop conducted by UP CIDS PST with partner NGOs under the programme for abused and exploited children. It presents experiences of academics and child-rights practitioners on children and childhood, paradigms of children’s work, resiliency, child participation and innovative ways of helping children.
Email: pstcids@edsamail.com.ph
Department for Constitutional Affairs, Involving Children and Young People: Action plan 2004–05, DCA, London, 2004.
This UK Government document provides a strategic framework for children’s participation in the justice system. It explains the rationale for actively involving children and young people, shares the progress made in recent years and highlights key areas for future work. It also includes case study examples.
Dottridge, Mike, Young People’s Voices on Child Trafficking: Experiences from South Eastern Europe, Innocenti Working Paper No. IWP-2008-05. Florence, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2008
Mindful of the important contribution that young people can make to our understanding of the issues that concern them, in 2005 and 2006 UNICEF arranged for children and young people who had been trafficked while under 18 years of age, to be interviewed in their home countries. Interviews were conducted in Albania, Kosovo, Moldova and Romania. Each of the children and young people described their lives before recruitment, their experiences during exploitation, and how they got away from the traffickers. They also spoke of rebuilding their lives once they were free. The interviews formed part of a broader assessment of strategies to counter child trafficking in the region.
Feinstein, Clare, Ravi Karkara and Sophie Laws, A Workshop Report on Child Participation in the UN Study on Violence Against Children, Save the Children Alliance, London, 2004.
This report is based on a workshop organized by Save the Children on children’s participation in the UN Study on Violence Against Children. It explores how children can be involved in the study in meaningful and ethical ways.
Francisco, Carolina, Standing Up for Ourselves! A study on the concepts and practices of young people’s rights to participation, ECPAT International, Manila, 1999.
This book discusses the capacity of and spaces for children to participate in projects and programmes and provides practical guidance for planning and implementation, drawing on the principles of the CRC. It focuses particularly on children’s participation in efforts against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth.
Goulet, Lisa E., Out From the Shadows: Good practices in working with sexually exploited youth in the Americas, International Institute for Child Righ ts and Development, ISBN 55058-221-6, University of Victoria, 2001.
The publication is divided into five main sections. The introductory section discusses the extent of the problem facing sexually-exploited children and youth, defines the term ‘good practices’ and the purpose of the project. Part 1 looks at the problem in a global context and describes international instruments for the fight against the exploitation of children. Part 2 discusses the economic, social, and cultural aspects of the sexual exploitation of youth and looks at the situation in light of children’s rights. Part 3 presents a series of case studies that demonstrate elements of good practices in the field. Part 4 concludes with an overview of the key components of good practices during each phase of the exploitation cycle.
Gray, Lawrence, Children at Risk: Practical approaches to addressing child protection issues in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, World Vision International, 2003.
This report provides practical examples on addressing child protection issues in various countries. It includes examples of children’s participation in their own protection.
Halford, Stuart, Anthea Lawson, Nicola Sharp and Simon Heap, I’m a Teenager: What happened to my rights?, Plan International and Childreach, UK, 2004.
This report argues that the Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been implemented successfully and that many children have not benefited from its commitments and know nothing about the rights they are entitled to. The report states that there are many threats to children’s rights that the CRC has failed to eliminate. It examines 15 of the biggest issues children face in their teenage years and looks at ways that teenagers, with support from their communities and organizations, are working to realize their rights.
Hood, R. and K. Disbury, Growing Strong: A training manual, Using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to support indigenous children, IICRD, Canada and UNICEF, Mexico, 2004.
This manual is designed to facilitate the implementation of the CRC in indigenous communities and contains practical activities and case studies from around the world. It provides a toolkit for community workers and anyone involved in health care, education, social services or child and youth care.
Jackson, Elanor and Marie Wernham, Child Protection Policies and Procedures Toolkit, ChildHope and Consortium for Street Children, London, UK, 2005.
This is a practical learning tool and set of resources for non-government organizations, particularly in developing countries, working with children. It outlines the key principles relevant to child protection and the stages needed to develop, implement and evaluate child protection policies.
Karlsson, Lena and Ravi Karkara, Working with Men and Boys to Promote Gender Equality and to End Violence Against Boys and Girls, Workshop Report, Save the Children Sweden-Denmark, Regional Programme for South and Central Asia, Nepal, 2004.
This workshop was organized to share experiences, approaches and tools to promote better understanding of the concepts of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ to address gender discrimination. It includes examples of working with men and boys on gender socialization.
Landgren, Karin, ‘The Protective Environment: Development support for child protection’ in Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 27, 2005.
This article proposes a conceptual framework for programming to develop effective mechanisms and systems to protect children. One of the eight elements of the protective environment framework is children’s knowledge, life skills and participation in their own protection.
Lansdown, Gerison, The Evolving Capacities of the Child, Save the Children and UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, 2005.
This report draws on Article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children should receive guidance ‘in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child’. Section 3.3 discusses the issue of balancing protective and participation rights and how children can be effectively involved in their own protection.
Martin, Florence and John Parry-Williams, The Right Not to Lose Hope: Children in conflict with the law – a policy analysis and examples of good practice, Save the Children UK, London, 2005.
This report addresses the issues and concerns facing children who are in conflict with the law. Part I analyses the experiences and situations of these marginalized children in the broader context of their lives. It looks at the failure of care and protection systems and the criminalization of
children’s coping strategies. Part II presents eight community-based projects that involve and support children in conflict with the law in Honduras, Lao PDR, Philippines, Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Uganda and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Newman, Jesse, Voices Out of Conflict: Young people affected by forced migration and political crisis, Post-conference report, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, 2004.
This conference report provides a critical discussion of child and youth participation as a form of protection in situations of conflict.
Newman, Jesse, Protection Through Participation: Young people affected by forced migration and political crisis, RSC Working Paper No. 20, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, 2005.
This paper explores the importance, possibilities, challenges and limitations of young people’s participation as a way to protect themselves in situations of conflict. It was written before the conference on ‘Voices Out of Conflict’.
Save the Children, Participatory Consultation with Separated Children in Europe, Guidance Pack for Managers, Produced by Save the Children for the NGO Network of the Separated Children in Europe Programme, 2003.
This guidance pack is designed to work with separated children aged 12–18, from a variety of national, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is a tool for managers to commission and supervise effective capacity-building activities with children.
Save the Children, 10 Essential Learning Points: Listen and speak out against sexual abuse of girls and boys, Global Submission by the International Save the Children Alliance, UN Study on Violence Against Children, Save the Children Alliance, 2004.
This publication presents the findings of a participatory research study on the sexual abuse of children in 13 countries. It highlights the importance of children’s participation in efforts to protect children from sexual abuse.
Tolfree, David, Whose Children? Separated children’s protection and participation in emergencies, Save the Children Sweden, 2003.
This book analyses fostering, group care and other types of care arrangements for children and adolescents separated in situations of large-scale emergencies.
UNICEF, Combating Child Trafficking, Handbook for Parliamentarians, No. 9, UNICEF, New York and Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva, 2005.
This publication provides parliamentarians with recommendations to help prevent child trafficking, assist child victims of trafficking and hold traffickers and people who assist them accountable for their crimes. It includes examples of children’s participation in anti-trafficking programmes.
UNICEF, et al., Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law, Inter-Agency Coordination Panel on Juvenile Justice, 2005.
This report presents examples of innovative practices in legal support, alternative sanctions, capacity building, public awareness and advocacy.
World Vision, Strongim pikinini, strongim laef b’long famili, Enabling children to reach their full potential, World Vision, 2005.
Children can be agents of change in their communities. This research started with the premise that there are traditional and modern attitudes and actions in all communities that can empower and protect children. It seeks to learn from communities, families and children in the Pacific (in PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). It also feeds into the UN Study on Violence Against Children.
