Participation

This section looks at issues relating to children's participation. This is one of the rights described in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Other sections look in detail at stigma and discrimination, protection from abuse and legal issues.

Key points about children's participation are:

1. There are many reasons why children and young people should participate in activities which affect them. These activities include those focused on HIV/AIDS.

2. In many societies, children's voices are rarely heard. They have little opportunity to participate. Adults often take decisions without talking to them.

3. Programmes which aim to promote children's participation will need to face a number of issues raised by children's participation.

4. Children and young people may participate at different levels ranging from being given information to full partnership. Appropriate types of participation will depend on children's age and circumstances. Some forms of 'participation', such as 'tokenism' and 'decoration' exploit children and young people. They should be avoided.

5. Children and young people may participate in a variety of different ways. There are many tools which can be used to promote children's participation.

Why Should Children and Young People Participate?

There are many reasons why children and young people should actively participate in HIV/AIDS programmes. These include:

The right to participate is a basic human right. Children and young people are entitled to this. This right is contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children and young people are the only ones who can describe issues from their perspective.
Participation builds children's self-esteem and confidence. It allows them to develop important communication skills.
Through participation, children and young people learn to cooperate with adults and other children.
Programmes which allow children and young people to participate are better programmes. For example, they are often more responsive to the needs of children and young people.
Children's participation raises public awareness of the needs of children and young people.

The Reality

Unfortunately, children and young people rarely get the opportunity to participate in activities and decisions which affect them. In order to allow children and young people to participate, adults need to learn to listen and to break the habit of making decisions for children and young people.

Children's participation should not only be encouraged in HIV/AIDS programmes, but also in other settings including in the family and schools.

Issues Arising from Participation

There are various issues which may arise when children and young people actively participate in programmes. These are:

Children and young people may risk being identified if they participate in HIV/AIDS programmes. Confidentiality must be observed. This is particularly an issue for activities which raise public awareness of issues affecting children. Careful consultation should be undertaken before any activity takes place which makes it likely that a child will be identified.
Programmes need additional resources to allow for the participation of children. Children and young people may require additional levels of support. They may require training to provide needed skills and confidence.
There may be problems with short-term participation, such as involvement in international conferences, if this is not followed up by ongoing participation and support in the long-term.
Children and young people who participate in a particular activity should understand what they are doing and agree to be involved. This is called giving informed consent.
The possibility of causing emotional harm by asking sensitive questions, for example, about the death of a parent or experiences of sexual abuse.

Children's participation in any programme activity should be in the child's best interest and should be consistent with ethical standards of practice that protect children and young people from harm as a result of their involvement.

Levels of Participation

Children and young people may experience different levels of participation. This has been described as a ladder. Different levels include:

Being given information - children and young people are given information. Adults make the decisions.
Consultation - children and young people are asked their opinions and adults take this into account when making decisions.
Adult-initiated - adults start projects and share decisions with children and young people. This is distinct from child-initiated projects.
Partnership - children and young people are supported by adults to come up with ideas and set up projects.

Children and young people may be involved in projects in ways which appear as if they are actively participating, when in fact they are not. For example, they or their images may be used to promote a particular project although they do not understand what is happening. This is manipulative as children and young people are being used as 'decoration'. Children and young people may be involved simply because projects know they should involve them. This can lead to 'tokenism' where children and young people are 'involved' in a project but they have little ability to influence decisions.

Different Ways of Participating

Participation may take different forms in different settings. Various things need to be considered when trying to find a good way of involving children. These include children's age, sex, ethnicity, religion and family background. Disabled children and young people may need special consideration to enable their participation.

There are a wide variety of ways of allowing children and young people to participate. These include through writing stories and poems, drawing pictures, forming their own clubs/organisations, playing games, attending workshops, drama, music, using puppets, sports and taking part in discussions and surveys.

Resources

Minimum Standards for Consulting with Children (Eng)

This document includes a detailed operations manual cotaining pracical guidance on how to achieve the minimum standards for children's participation in events and meetings. This is an excellent contribution to global efforts to increase quality and effectiveness of children's participation.
Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation (IAWGCP)2007, PDF, 44 pages, 132 kb

Children as partners website

Children as Partners (CAP) is a place where young people and adults from around the world who support child participation can share what they think, what they know and helpful information.

Children's Institute, Zisize Educational Trust: Radio Project

This link is to a children's radio project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which is designed to contribute to developing public awareness and apropriate responses to children in the context of poverty and the HIV epidemic.

Growing up Together: Experiences of Care and Support for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (Eng)

This report discusses the need for a rights-based approach and child participation when working with children affected by HIV/AIDS
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2004, PDF, 30 pages

Young people we care (Eng)

This book aims provides a practical step-by-step guide to implementing a 'young people we care' programme.
Second edition, John Snow International/London, 2005, PDF, 100 pages, 4090 kb

Practice standards in children's participation (Eng)

This document outlines practice standards for Save the Children's work on child participation. They are designed to apply to all Save the Children's child participation work and represent minimum expectations for the ways in which staff will behave and operate.
Save the Children UK, 2005, PDF, 12 pages, 59 kb

Conducting a Participatory Situation Analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: Guidelines and Tools (Eng)

Family Health International's important new resource for improving the lives of OVC - a powerful tool that builds on experiences from FHI's OVC work in the developing world.
FHI/IMPACT/USAID, 2005, PDF, 2530kb, 210 pages

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Conduite d'une analyse de situation participative sur les orphelins et enfants vulnerables affectes par le VIH/SIDA: Prinicipes directeurs et outils (Fr)

La nouvelle ressource de FHI pour l’amélioration de la qualité de vie des Orphelin et Enfants Vulnérables (OEV) – un outil puissant qui se base sur l’expérience accumulée par FHI dans son travail avec les OEV dans les pays en voie de développement.
FHI/IMPACT/USAID, 2005, PDF, 2530kb, 210 pages

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Children Living in a World with AIDS: Guidelines for Children's Participation in HIV/AIDS Programmes (Eng)

This document explains why and how children can/should participate in HIV/AIDS programmes.
Children and AIDS International NGO Network, 1998, PDF, 234 kb

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The Child-to-Child Trust Website

This website contains many useful resources, including practical tools on children's participation in health promotion. However, many of these are available as hard copy only and need to be ordered from TALC.
The Child-to-Child Trust

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What’s the difference? Implications of a child-focus in rights-based programming: Discussion Paper (Eng)

This paper highlights some of the challenges that need to be addressed in applying rights-based approaches to work with children.
Lansdown, G. Save the children UK, March 2005, 193kb, 16 pages

Setting up an Orphans' Organization (Eng)

This document is in the form of an interview with Kurt Madorin and is structured around work done to establish an orphans' organization as part of the HUMULIZA project in Tanzania.
Madorin, K., Novartis Foundation/Terre des Hommes/HUMULIZA, PDF, 5 pages, 95 kb

A Parrot on your Shoulder – A Guide for People Starting to Work with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Eng)

This document is a practical tool aimed at promoting participation of children in programmes aimed at providing them with care and support.
International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2004, PDF, 71 pages, 1290 kb.

The State of the World's Children 2005: Summary Report (Eng)

This UNICEF report focuses on the issue of child participation.
UNICEF, 2005, PDF, 24 pages, 317 kb

Learning from Experience: Children's Participation at an International HIV/AIDS Conference: A Case Study (Eng)

This document reflects on Save the Children's experience of involving children in an international HIV/AIDS conference.
Elliott, L., Save the Children, 1998, PDF, 50 pages, 366kb

Child-to-Child: A Practical Guide to Empowering Children as Active Citizens (Eng)

This guide is aimed at a broad audience. It contains an overview of the child-to-child approach, relevant instructions and practical tools.
Gibbs, A., Mann, G. and Mathers, N., Community Health South London NHS Trust, 2002, PDF, 92 pages, 787kb

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World Vision, Creating Space for Children's Participation: Planning with Street Children in Yangon, Myanmar (Eng)

This paper is about a two-week empowerment evaluation that took place in April 2001 with World Vision's Street Children and Working Children Program (SWC), which is based in Yangon, Myanmar.
Dorning K. and O'Shaughnessy, T., World Vision, 2001, PDF, 16 pages, 258kb

RBM and Children's Participation: A Guide to Incorporating Child Participation Results into CIDA Programs (Eng)

This guide includes summaries of good practices in child participation, steps to consider when incorporating child participation results in CIDA projects and plans, a CIDA child participation checklist, and two sample projects.
Child Protection Unit, Policy Branch, CIDA, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), 2003, PDF, 36 pages, 320 kb.

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Involving Youth in the Care and Support of People Affected by HIV and AIDS

This is a report about a study in Zambia which aimed to determine which care and support needs of people living with HIV/AIDS , orphans and other vulnerable children and their families could be met by trained youth.
USAID/Population Council/HORIZONS, 2003, PDF, 8 pages, 130 kb.

So you want to consult with children? A toolkit of good practice (Eng)

This toolkit is mainly aimed at governments, international agencies and NGOs who want to involve or consult children in a meaningful way.
Save the Children, 2003, PDF, 98 pages, 1226 kb.

Adolescents (13-18 years old) Survey, Impact Assessment of Vulnerable Children in Cambodia, Baseline Survey (Eng)

This is a form used by the POLICY Project/Cambodia to conduct baseline surveys of adolescents (13-18 years old).
POLICY Project, 2004, PDF, 12 pages, 236 kb.

Children (6-12 years old) Survey, Impact Assessment of Vulnerable Children in Cambodia, Baseline Survey (Eng)

This is a form used by the POLICY Project/Cambodia to conduct baseline surveys of children (6-12 years old).
POLICY Project, 2004, PDF, 7 pages, 147 kb.

SCOPE and Family Health International Orphans and Vulnerable Children Baseline Survey, Psychosocial Interviews with Orphans and Vulnerable Children: Questionnaire for 06-12 Year Olds (Eng)

This is a questionnaire from the SCOPE programme in Zambia for use with children aged 6-12 years.
FHI/SCOPE/USAID, 2001, PDF, 9 pages, 494 kb.

SCOPE and Family Health International Orphans and Vulnerable Children Baseline Survey, Psychosocial Interviews with Orphans and Vulnerable Children: Questionnaire for 13-18 Year Olds (Eng)

This is a questionnaire from the SCOPE programme in Zambia for use with adolescents aged 13-18 years.
FHI/SCOPE/USAID, 2001, PDF, 23 pages, 1247 kb.

A Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV/AIDS (Eng)

This framework is based on lessons learned over many years. It considers families and communities as the foundation of an effective, scaled-up response.
UNICEF, 2004, PDF, 23 pages, 397 kb.

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A Resource Kit of Materials for Increasing Children’s Participation (Eng)

This resource kit is intended for: • people working with orphans and vulnerable children who want to make sure that the children in their programmes are benefiting as much as possible through their active involvement • institutions who are designing or delivering OVC policies and programmes and want to ensure children’s participation • trainers involved in capacity building NGOs, CBOs and other institutions on children’s participation.
SCUK, 2004, PDF, 10 pages, 241 kb.

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A Resource Kit of Materials for Increasing Children’s Participation (Por)

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: Resource Sheet 1: Models of Children’s Participation (Eng)

This is sheet 1 of SCUK Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A resource kit of materials for increasing children’s participation.
SCUK, 2004, PDF, 3 pages, 83 kb.

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: Resource Sheet 1: Models of Children’s Participation (Por)

This is sheet 1 of SCUK Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A resource kit of materials for increasing children’s participation.
SCUK, 2004, PDF, 3 pages, 89 kb.

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: Resource sheet 2: Models of child participation in community-based OVC care (Eng)

This is sheet 2 of SCUK Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A resource kit of materials for increasing children’s participation.
SCUK, 2004, PDF, 5 pages, 154 kb.

Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: Resource sheet 2: Models of child participation in community-based OVC care (Por)

This is sheet 2 of SCUK Children’s Participation in OVC Programming: A resource kit of materials for increasing children’s participation.
SCUK, 2004, PDF, 6 pages, 162 kb.