Blog: Child Participation

Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - 21:47 by

Fearless, Confident, and Perseverant, Amar soon became the voice of her community

Amar Ismail is 16 years old and is best known for challenging “everything going wrong” in her community. She is the head of Children’s Committee in Akkar province, in northern Lebanon, as well as being a playwright and an aspiring lawyer who wants to defend children with no identification, who are often persecuted

In the little town of Tal Bire, Amar lives with her parents and seven siblings and goes to “El Hisa” High School, one of...

Learning about violence from young leaders in Addis Ababa

Last month, I was in Addis Ababa supporting seven young leaders from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda who participated in the Pan-African launch of the World Vision campaign to end violence against children.This was my first time in an African country, dealing with different perceptions of childhood and youth, and there are some important things I wanted to share about my experience.

I was amazed to hear their stories and learn about the challenges and problems that...

Truth comes out from the children's mouth

Today, 65.3 million people are on the run in the world. It’s 65.3 million people labelled as “refugees” “migrants”, “internally displaced”, “stateless”, or “asylum seekers” on the run. Ultimately, it’s 65.3 million HUMANS that are running today. All are trying to save their lives and the lives of their loved ones with the hope that they might have a better, hopeful, dignifying and peaceful future. Nearly half of these 65.3 million humans are...

Diana and Gabriel at the #EurochildConf

Between the 5th and 7th of July, Diana and Gabriel, two children from the Children’s Consultative Council of World Vision Romania, participated, along with other 250 participants from 34 countries, in the Eurochild Conference 2016 at the Palace of Academies, Brussels. The conference was co-hosted by Office de la Naissance et de l’Enfance (ONE) and Kind en Gezin.

The children’s rights community in Europe gathered in Brussels this week to answer the question “Why Europe...

Zgjim's reflection on reaching the heights for the Rights of the Child

Zgjim, Kids For Peace Project, World Vision Kosovo, 2016.

The following blog is a reflection from Zgjim. He wrote it while he was in Brussels, participating in the #EurochildConf.

I am going to tell you about my experience advocacting for children’s rights, how life can change within a short period of time and how you can contribute to changing other children’s lives.

As a member of “Kids for Peace” Project of World Vision in Kosovo, I...

Poverty through the eyes of young people

The European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty took place this year on 19-20 November 2015 in Brussels as a consultation carried out by the European Commission for people experiencing poverty under the name “SOCIAL CONVERGENCE IN THE EU – A strategic dialogue meeting with People experiencing Poverty”. It is expected that the outcomes of this year’s meeting will feed into the Annual Convention of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion that is likely...

Child participation: it’s about the adults, too

A few weeks ago when I was coming out of a local restaurant, I heard a young child give his mother his thoughts on how she should handle a particular situation at the child’s school. Without missing a beat, the mother – clearly exasperated – yelled at her child, “I’m a grown up. I do not need your input!” My heart fell.

By now, much of the development community has grown to understand that “child participation” is about ensuring...

Child Parliament empowers children in Bangladesh

While thinking about a blog topic to write, I decided to focus on the Child Parliament in Bangladesh. This is, in my opinion, an excellent space for children to make their voices heard in decision-making processes.

The Child Parliament is the advocacy wing of the National Children’s Task Force, a well-known children’s organisation established primarily to monitor the implementation of the National Plan of Action (adopted in 2002-2006) against sexual abuse and...

Violence at the forefront of children’s concerns

‘Violence against children’ is a phrase that we often hear. It may affect us for a few moments, allowing us to reflect, feel the pain and regret. It may be just words on paper. It may be statements out of nowhere that have nothing to do with us.

it is evident that children are putting the issue of violence at the forefront of their concerns.

However, the phenomenon of violence against children keeps spreading. With the...

I, Millennium Youth, at the European Development Days 2015

By Olga, Millenium Youth from Latvia

One day I was going out of school.. and suddenly I went to the information desk which stands in a dark corner where no one ever looks. There I saw an advertisement about a contest “Millennium Youth”. The idea to win a great opportunity to go to Brussels and speak with high-level politicians seemed completely unbelievable! But I decided to participate anyway! There was a contest - to do something in a week that...