Child Participation

Children have the right to participate in matters affecting their lives and should be enabled to give their opinions, and to have those opinions taken into account. Through participation, children learn self-expression, empowerment and ultimately greater self-esteem.  Children are a diverse group and therefore children of different ages, abilities, backgrounds, races, and both genders should ideally be included in a consultation process.

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SOS Children’s Villages International ,

This report presents the findings from a two-year peer research project which includes the testimony of more than 300 young people with care experience in Albania, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Poland. More than 40 care leavers from the four countries were selected and trained to play an active role in the all aspects of the projects. The interviews revealed widespread inadequacies regarding the process of leaving care, promoting the research team to draw up recommendations to address them.

Sylvie Delcroix, Jan Folda, Bettina Hofer, Irene Martín López, Irene Rojnik, Vera von Sartori, Samantha Tedesco, Karin Weiss, Marco Zaniboni,

This publication by SOS Children’s Villages International brings together research findings, learning and policy recommendations about sibling relations in alternative care gathered from five different SOS Children’s Villages associations (Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Spain).

Nikel Bailey, Carly Loehrke, and Shelby French, International Organization for Adolescents ,

In light of these challenges, during the summer of 2011, the International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA) conducted a needs assessment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that focused on identifying the strengths, needs, and risks of orphaned and vulnerable adolescents who are transitioning to independence. The data collected has served to inform the overall Transitions Initiative, led by IOFA, which aims to establish a comprehensive support system for youth aging out of care and to build awareness around the issues that this vulnerable population confronts

Kelley Bunkers and Karen Rotabi ,

Helping families and their kin develop care plans for orphaned and vulnerable children was the objective of the family group conferencing (FGC) training that took place in Guatemala City from July 10-12, 2012. This family preservation approach for developing strategies to prevent the institutionalization of children emphasizes the strengths of families and their capacity to solve their own problems and develop their own care plans.

Laura May Ward & Carola Eyber,

Based on participatory research with children living in child headed households in Rwanda, this article focuses on the resilience of children facing extreme hardship and adversity. While the research focuses on child headed households, this study’s findings can be considered more broadly for interventions for other vulnerable children to support their development of innovative coping strategies.

UNICEF,

This report provides data on children living in urban settings, including statistics, conditions, and personal testimonies. The report also includes UNICEF’s recommendations for policy regarding children in urban settings, working with this population, and for future action. Sections that are relevant to children’s care include: children living and working on the streets, migrant children, urban emergencies, and many more.

Department for Education,

This Charter lists the promises that care leavers want the central and local governments to make. The Charter for Care Leavers is designed to raise expectations, aspirations and understanding of what care leavers need and what the government and local authorities should do to be good “Corporate Parents.”

Sonia Jackson and Claire Cameron ,

The first comparative study of young people who have been in state care as children and their post-compulsory education, was undertaken by a team of cross-national researchers.

Rachel Blades, Di Hart, Joanna Lea, Natasha Willmott - Prison Reform Trust,

The main aim of this research is to enhance the understanding of why children in care in the UK are disproportionately likely to end up in the youth justice system or in custody.

Gerison Lansdown,

This resource guide is based on and elaborates the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 12, ‘The Right of the Child to be Heard.’ The aim of this handbook is to try to make easier the task of governments in moving that agenda forward.