Introduction
This module aims to equip those responding in emergencies with an introduction to the theory and practice of working with children and of children’s rights. It illustrates how the experience of childhood is not the same for all children and highlights the diversity of beliefs about raising children. It demonstrates that children themselves are active agents in their growth and development. Yet, their capacities are often underestimated by adults, leaving them powerless and without a voice in those decisions that affect them.
The module places emphasis on the need for humanitarian workers to understand the local reality of childhood, and the role of the family and community if interventions are to be successful. It also stresses that a child rightsbased approach to working with children provides humanitarian workers with four guiding principles that can inform the development of effective emergency responses:
- best interests
- survival and development
- participation
- nondiscrimination
