fy2015 - fy2020 direction child and... · the links between policy, practice and theory in order to...

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FY2015 - FY2020

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1. Introduction 2. Strategic Direction Goal 3. Contribution to Child Well-Being Aspirations, Outcomes, and Target 1 4. Priorities and objectives of the Strategic Direction

4.1. Priority 1: Mainstream child and youth participation

4.2. Priority 2: Build capacities and improve resources

4.3. Priority 3: Increase and strengthen child and youth structures

4.4. Priority 4: Promote accountability to children and youth

4.5. Priority 5: Improve knowledge management

5. Core approaches to the Strategic Direction

5.1. Inclusion of the most vulnerable

5.2. Safe and ethical

5.3. Intergenerational dialogue

5.4. Rights-based

5.5. Gender-transformative approach

6. Deliverables

7. Appendixes

7.1. Appendix: Key definitions and terms

7.2. Appendix: Strategic direction working group

7.3. Appendix: Members of the advisory committee

7.4. Appendix: Process

7.5. Appendix: Core approaches, reflection questions

7.6. Appendix: Triennial Council Recommendations

7.7. Appendix: Bibliography

46 After three days they found him [Jesus] in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His

mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you”. 49 “Why were you

searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to

them.

Strategic Direction Team: Tiffany Tao Joiner and Patricio Cuevas-Parra

Team Leaders: Corina Villacorta and Paul Stephenson

Copyright © 2015 World Vision International

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form, except for brief excerpts in

reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

Table of Contents

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SUMMARY

Child and Youth Participation

Strategic Direction 2015-2020

The Strategic Direction contains

5 Priorities and

5 Core Approaches. Each Priority has specific objectives and deliverables

to accomplish in the next 5 years.

Strategic Direction Goal World Vision excels in creating and

advocating for enabling environments that

empower children and youth as social actors,

advocates, and partners for child well-being.

Integrate and

mainstream child

and youth

participation

Inclusion of MVC

Gender-

Transformative

Increase and

strengthen

child and youth

structures

World Vision excels in creating

and advocating for enabling

environments that empower

children and youth as social

actors, advocates, and partners

for child well-being.

Improve

knowledge

management

Rights-

Based

Build capacities

and improve

resources

Intergenerational

Dialogue

Safe &

Ethical

Promote

Accountability to

Children and Youth

This Strategic Direction aims to assist

practitioners in prioritising their efforts

and developing better practices to

ensure that children and youth are

recognised as active contributors to their

families, communities, and their wider

society.

It also intends to position World Vision as

a leading organisation to take part in key

external and internal processes that

present new opportunities for enhanced

child and youth participation, namely:

WV's transition to LEAP 3 and the development of Technical Approaches

and Technical Programs

The Post-2015 Development frame and the global goal of ending extreme

poverty by 2030

The Sustainable Development Goals and the new impetus to have young

people as partners in the

implementation of the SDGs

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1. INTRODUCTION

In the last 3 years World Vision has made significant advancements in the area of child and youth

participation. Internally, World Vision has strengthened guidance and technical support to staff members

who work directly with children, increased board members’ and senior-level staff’s commitment to

children’s participation, and developed good practices and proven tools. Externally, the world has

progressed in its ability and desire to include the voices of children and youth in global decisions. The

unprecedented level of child and youth voices in the lead-up to the Sustainable Development Goals and

the forthcoming Post-2015 Development Agenda will pave the way for young people’s participation over

the next 15 years. In general, children and youth’s participation is increasingly being considered as a

proven approach to development and poverty reduction.

“My life has changed drastically because a new factor was added, which is leadership, so I had to attend meetings, I

had to prepare, come up with new proposals, see the problems at my school and in the street, I had to pay more

attention to my social surroundings”. Child in focus group discussion, Bolivia.

Globally, the growing interest of academia and researchers in producing resources and studies on child

and youth participation has received more wide-spread recognition due to the exponential impact this

field has on good governance, social accountability and citizen participation. Over the last decade, many

theoretical positions and models have been developed that inform our understanding of children and

young people, and their role in public decision-making, especially concerning public and collective

participation in decision-making. Furthermore, major multilateral organisations, United Nations agencies

and large international non-governmental organisations have developed child and youth participation

strategies in order to include young people within their decision-making processes in a meaningful,

ethical and effective way.

Child participation is one of the core principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),

which asserts that children and young people have the right to freely express their views and that there

is an obligation to listen to children’s views and facilitate their participation in all matters affecting them

within the family, schools, local communities, public services, institutions, government policy, and judicial

procedures.

World Vision believes that children and youth can play a significant role as agents of transformation with

the ability to engage in decision-making processes, in accordance with their evolving capacities and

gradually increasing autonomy. When children and youth learn to communicate opinions, take

responsibility and make decisions, they develop a sense of belonging, justice, responsibility and solidarity.

World Vision’s work in the field of child and youth participation reflects its International Board’s

endorsement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, implying organisational support for the

rights of children to be listened to; to express their opinions on matters that affect them; to freedom of

expression, thought, association and access to information; all the while respecting the roles and

responsibilities of parents and others in authority.

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World Vision has a compelling vision statement: “Our vision for every child, life in all its fullness, our

prayer for every heart, the will to make it so”. This Strategic Direction for child and youth participation

is intended to enable significant contributions to the fullness of life for every girl and boy. World Vision,

as Christian organisation, is inspired by the many examples in Biblical texts of young children acting as

change agents to positively affect the world around them. There is a spiritual component to participation

where children discover their unique talents and the contribution they can make to their communities.

World Vision has learned that children and youth need care and protection but also trust from adults in

order to actively engage and take part in contributing to their own well-being. The fact of participation is

an imperative for them to reach their full potential and experience the fullness of life.

“I really learnt the expression we have in Albania, that if we are together, we are stronger and age is not important. Our

group had a mix of ages and a mix of girls and boys. Put the minds of boys and girls together and you will get a very good

solution”. Youth from Albania

This Strategic Direction aims to assist practitioners in prioritising their efforts and developing better

practices to ensure that children and youth are recognised as actors who have agency and are active

contributors to their families and communities. As World Vision grows in its understanding and

practice of participation and representative voice, we will continue refining this Strategic Direction to

improve our ways of working, to define new goals, and to overcome new challenges in child and youth

participation.

External landscape assessment on children and young people’s participation

World Vision commissioned an external landscape assessment on children and young people’s

participation. Based on the literature review of theories and practices, several general and specific

recommendations were developed to contribute to the debate and strategic decisions around child

participation.1

The recommendations for ways forward for international non-governmental organisations and NGOs

working on children and young people’s participation were:

1. Promoting a human rights-based approach, 2. Supporting cultural and value shifts, 3. Implementing children’s participation in the different programmes and sectors, thereby

increasing support for children’s active citizenship rights and engagement in advocacy work,

4. Encouraging accountability and showing impacts on children’s participation, 5. Advocating for children and young people’s participation, 6. Fostering collaborative efforts amongst child-focused agencies.

1 Find the full report at http://www.wvi.org/child-participation/publication/research-study-what-next-

ways-forward-children%E2%80%99s-and-young-people%E2%80%99s

http://www.wvi.org/child-participation/publication/research-study-what-next-ways-forward-children%E2%80%99s-and-young-people%E2%80%99shttp://www.wvi.org/child-participation/publication/research-study-what-next-ways-forward-children%E2%80%99s-and-young-people%E2%80%99s

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The recommendations for ways forward for regional and country-level actors were:

1. Institutionalising the participation of children and young people, 2. Working with adults who are engaged with children and young people, 3. Involving children and young people, including the most marginalised, at different decision-

making levels,

4. Advocating for children and young people’s participation at the government level.

“Being able to talk to authorities has been sort of difficult, they gave us little tips in a training session but it was hard at first.

But once we were inside, we started getting into it more and more, and they stopped saying, ‘...yeah sure, yeah come in...’—

now they say, ‘Come on in guys we want to talk to you; what ideas do you have?” Child participant in a focal group

discussion, Camiri, Bolivia

Process of forming the Strategic Direction

The Strategic Direction is the result of a comprehensive review of the current child participation models

and practices in community development programmes, both internally and externally. The process

involved extensive consultations with over 50 World Vision staff members from every level of the

organisation, as well as a review of the external landscape of child participation made with a consultant.

The priorities, objectives, and deliverables were formed and agreed upon by these contributors who will

also be involved in the Strategic Direction’s implementation. This process also included the analysis of

the links between policy, practice and theory in order to strengthen child and youth participation from a

development, disaster management and advocacy perspective. A diagram illustrating the process of

forming this Strategic Direction in the Appendix (section 7.4).

Note on terminology

Throughout the strategy, ‘children and youth’ is typically used, following young people’s preference in

some countries to be referred to as ‘youth’ or ‘young people’ rather than ‘children’. Broadly speaking,

‘children and young people’ refers to children up to the age of 18, following the definition according to

the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a subcategory of children, young people

can be defined as children aged 15–18. Another age overlap issue is the definition of ‘adolescents’, which

refers to young people, aged 12–18. The definition of children as people under the age of 18 can

sometimes clash with other definitions of youth, as the United Nations defines ‘youth’, as people

between the ages of 15 and 24, without prejudice to other definitions by Member States. More

definitions can be found in Appendix 7.1.

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2. STRATEGIC DIRECTION GOAL

Based on this extensive landscaping and stock-taking process, an overarching goal statement was formed

for the Strategic Direction: “World Vision excels in creating and advocating for enabling

environments that empower children and youth as social actors, advocates, and partners

for child well-being”. This goal statement encompasses the direction of our work in child and youth

participation. Further explanation of each part of this goal statement is provided below.

Graph 1: Goal, strategic priorities and approaches

The Strategic Direction goal has three pivotal components:

a) “Creating and advocating for enabling environments”: An enabling environment for

participation is one where the voices, opinions, and perspectives of young people are sought,

listened to, and respected at all levels of society. We understand World Vision’s role as one that

works with and empowers local partners and community members to create an environment

where children’s participation rights are realised in every aspect of their lives. This includes

World Vision excels in

creating and advocating for enabling environments

that empower children and youth as social

actors, advocates and partners for child well-

being.

Improve knowledge

management

Integrate and

mainstream

child and youth

participation

Increase and

strengthen child

and youth

structures

Build capacities

and improve

resouces

Promote

Accountability

to Children and

Youth

Inclusion of MVC Gender-

transformative

Safe & ethical

Intergenerational dialogue

Rights-based

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advocating for specific policies that encourage children’s views and opinions to be heard in local,

national, and international decision-making spaces.

b) “Empower children and youth”: What do we want these enabling environments to do? We

don’t want to stop at just creating a space for participation. An essential component is ensuring

that children and youth have the skills and capacities to take action on issues that are important

to them and that they are empowered with the confidence and capability to claim their rights in

a safe and meaningful way.

c) “As social actors, advocates, and partners for child well-being”: In all of World Vision’s

efforts, we hope to empower children and youth to become a) social actors who are involved in

the decisions about their communities and their lives, b) advocates who use their voice

effectively on behalf of their peers, and c) partners in pursuing child well-being.

3. CONTRIBUTION TO CHILD WELL-BEING

ASPIRATIONS, OUTCOMES, AND TARGET 1

The Strategic Direction contributes to World Vision’s Child Well-Being Aspirations, especially the one

stating that “children are cared for, protected and participating” within their communities. While child

and youth participation is a critical part of achieving all of the Child Well-Being Outcomes, the Strategic

Direction is particularly rooted in three:

1. Children are respected participants in decisions that affect their lives, 2. Children enjoy positive relationships with peers, family, and community members, 3. Children have hopes and visions for the future.

This Strategic Direction reinforces the foundational principles of the Child Well-Being Aspirations that

state that children and youth are citizens and their rights and dignity are upheld, including girls and boys

of all religions and ethnicities, any health status, and those with disabilities. Child and youth participation

is a critical element to achieve effective and sustainable outcomes across all target areas, with a specific

focus on Target 1.2

The Strategic Direction also intentionally incorporates specific deliverables in response to the five child

and youth recommendations from the 2013 Triennial Council:

Shared strategies so services do not become redundant,

Full representation with community members,

Establishing trust for the utilisation of resources,

Adults as consultants instead of ‘managers’,

Including youth in National Office board meetings and governance. More information on each of the recommendations can be found in Appendix 7.6.

2 Target 1: Children report an increased level of well-being (ages 12-18). Common tools to measure Target 1 include the Development Assets Profile (DAP) and the Youth Healthy Behaviour Survey (YHBS).

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4. PRIORITIES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

The Strategic Direction contains five priorities and accompanying objectives that outline key areas of

focus for the next five years in order to reach the goal statement. These areas each have a set of

deliverables—formed largely through the internal and external landscaping process—which outline the

resources, actions, and processes needed to achieve each priority and objective. The full set of

deliverables can be found in Section 6 and the Strategic Direction Work Plan Document.

“In my opinion, there are some problems regarding youth and child participation. First of all, there are a lot of youth and

children that still don’t know about their right to participate. Secondly, there are still a lot of youth organisations that don’t

have recognition from their governments, and so these governments tend to ignore our voices, especially children and youth

who are marginalised. Thirdly, we don’t know whether our voices are being considered or not”. Irwa, age 17, Indonesia

Graph 2: Priorities and objectives

Build capacities and

improve resources

Cutting-edge child and

youth participation

resources, tools and

guidance are relevant, easily

accessible and utilised by

staff members, partners,

children and youth.

Improve knowledge

management:

Staff members across the

partnership have access

to information,

opportunities for

professional

development, action

research and learning.

Promote accountability to

children and youth:

Children and youth have

access to information and to

safe and effective mechanisms

to hold to account WV,

governments, duty-bearers,

and other key stakeholders at

the community, national and

international level.

Increase and

strengthen child and

youth structures:

Child and youth

structures, associations,

and networks are

promoted, equipped, and

strengthened, especially

those which are

child/youth-led.

Integrate and

mainstream child and

youth participation:

Specific actions are taken

to integrate and

mainstream child and youth

participation in WV’s work

in development, advocacy,

and disaster management.

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4.1 Priority 1: Integrate and mainstream child and youth

participation

OBJECTIVE: Specific actions are taken to integrate and mainstream child and

youth participation in WV’s work in development, advocacy, and disaster

management.

During the process of forming the Strategic Direction, the need to ensure that child and youth

participation is mainstreamed into every line of ministry and sector area was identified by key informants

of the advisory group as well as through the external landscape report. In many cases, participation is

largely disconnected from an office’s efforts in sector areas such as health, water and sanitation,

Sponsorship, and education. Key contributors noted the lack of an integrated approach between

participation, protection, education, life-skills development, and other sector areas that had

programming options for child and youth groups. Mainstreaming participation would mean intentional

efforts to place child and youth participation as a key component to achieve each sector’s goals and

outcomes. It would mean integrating participation into each sector’s technical approaches, technical

programmes, and DME processes for all three lines of ministry.

Mainstreaming child and youth participation is essential because of the cross-cutting nature of

participation. By including children and youth’s voices and opinions in the decision-making processes of

every sector, our programmes, advocacy, and disaster-management work will be more effective,

relevant to our target beneficiaries, and sustainable in the long-term. This Priority is deeply connected

to the overarching goal of the Strategic Direction, since an enabling environment that empowers

children and youth is impossible if children’s voices are not respected and listened to in all areas

affecting their lives.

To accomplish this Priority, several key deliverables have been identified that will focus our efforts

around the following:

Increasing organisational will for child and youth participation within World Vision,

Embedding participation in the different thematic areas/sectors of World Vision,

Leveraging Sponsorship as a platform to mainstream participation in sponsorship-funded ADPs,

Providing clear guidance on how to incorporate participation into the new LEAP 3 technical approach and programme processes,

Strengthening the understanding and practice of measuring and monitoring child and youth participation.

“For me it is very important to represent the children from my village and to convey what they need and the activities they

want to have. I am very interested in meeting children from other cultures and ethnicities and to exchange the things that

we have in common. I have learned a lot in the training sessions and I never thought that I would be able to do it. [...] I feel

very valued and in a place where everyone can give an opinion and be listened to”. Aline, age 15, Lebanon

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4.2 Priority 2: Increase and strengthen child and youth

structures

OBJECTIVE: Child and youth structures, associations, and networks are promoted,

equipped, and strengthened, especially those which are child/youth-led.

This Strategic Direction has identified strengthening child and youth structures as a key platform for

meaningful child and youth participation. This approach is consistent with the findings of the internal

landscape assessment that showed that there is a strong, growing presence of children and youth’s clubs,

parliaments, groups, and networks at the community level (especially those which are child or youth

led).

This Strategic Direction promotes a shift away from taking ownership over children’s groups towards an

approach that strengthens the active participation of children and youth in the formulation, preparation,

implementation and follow-up of their groups or associations. This approach entails that World Vision

staff members act as facilitators and enablers rather than as group managers. Furthermore, the role of

staff members should not be limited to facilitating children’s groups; their role should really be to

empower children to self-organise, to lead their own initiatives and to become more autonomous and

self-determined. This is a gradual process that involves intergenerational dialogue and partnership

between children and adults, especially with World Vision, who will continue supporting children’s

groups within an interdependent framework and with a mind to innovative child-adult partnerships.

This Strategic Direction does not indicate any specific type of structure for children and youth; children

and young people are free to choose the structures that they consider relevant for their own contexts

such as clubs, councils, parliaments, committees, associations, or even virtual forms of connecting to one

another. These structures, if created well, can give children and young people a public voice and also

contribute to the development of their leadership skills, autonomy and confidence.

“We have learnt that we can influence policy formulation at the local level if we are organised and have enough information

on the topics that we want to change”. Young person from Sierra Leone

In terms of advocacy work, this child-led approach implies that children and youth have the right to be

involved in self-organised advocacy as well as in World Vision’s own process of policy influence,

campaigns, and determining advocacy priorities and positions. When children and youth are provided

with tools, skills and knowledge they become agents of change in their communities and countries, and

they can lead successful advocacy initiatives at the community or national level that promote justice and

equality. This can be accomplished by empowering and supporting children and young people, which

means that World Vision’s role can gradually move away from initiating these actions with young people

and towards empowering and supporting them to lead on their own.



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Developing an end-to-end guidance approach for effective child and youth “collective spaces”,

Developing guidance to foster child and youth networks and strengthen local to national links to civil society organisations (adult or child-led),

Producing a concept for a virtual child and youth internet-based group for connecting child and youth networks,

Building learning and best practice approaches on successful existing child and youth spaces from across national offices and regions.

4.3 Priority 3: Promote accountability to children and

youth

OBJECTIVE: Children and youth have access to information and to safe and

effective mechanisms to hold to account WV, governments, duty-bearers, and

other key stakeholders at the community, national and international level.

One important element of meaningful participation for children and youth is ensuring that there are

appropriate mechanisms for young people to hold those who have the responsibility for improving

children’s lives to account. The external landscape report revealed this as a major weakness in

participation efforts across the world. Many times, organisations tend to focus more on participation

activities and events rather than on participation’s role in systematically keeping community and national

leaders accountable to what is promised or intended for child well-being. When children and youth

advocate for certain policies or decisions, one of the main barriers in accomplishing their goals is the

lack of accountability and follow-up after children’s efforts on campaigns, social media, events,

consultations, etc. have come to a close.

This fourth Priority intends to begin closing this gap in child and youth participation practice. It is not

enough to only listen to children’s voices—we need to respond to their views and make sure that they

have a way to hold us and other stakeholders accountable. Child and youth participation helps to build

accountability and promote good governance within our organisation and at the community and national

level.

World Vision seeks to identify and strengthen creative ways to ensure child and youth participation in

social accountability and good governance. World Vision also supports the ‘child friendly cities’ or ‘child

friendly local governance’ initiatives as promising programmes undertaken in many countries to engage

children and youth in decision-making on matters affecting them. An intrinsic component of

accountability is participation, so our approach should be to create enabling environments for children

and youth's voices to be heard. This approach requires that we empower children and youth to hold

others to account, in order to provide them with the opportunity and space to influence relevant

decisions affecting their lives.

Learning from the field has shown that the role of children and youth in social accountability and good

governance is stronger when they are organised into formal or informal structures where their voices

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are collective rather than individual. Organised groups of children have a better impact on articulating

their needs and concerns, mobilising for change, and monitoring the performance of government

institutions.

A prime example of this within our own organisation is following up on the five recommendations that

children and youth gave to the 2013 Triennial Council. These statements reflect what children and youth

hope for regarding their participation and partnership with World Vision. Ensuring that there is an

appropriate mechanism that they can use to show progress on the recommendations and keep us

accountable to them is an important deliverable within the Strategic Direction.

By giving them the opportunity and space to keep us accountable, we are communicating that we value

their opinions and desire to engage with them continually—not just at a special event or activity.



Research into what makes accountability mechanisms meaningful and useful for children and youth,

Child-friendly tools to help children keep governments accountable, especially in regards to the forthcoming Post-2015 agenda,

Ensuring appropriate follow-up and progress on the five Triennial Council recommendations,

Increased alterative reporting to the Universal Periodic Review and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

“I think it is very important for us to participate in an international process such as the post-2015. This is the opportunity

that we needed to speak up. Today we expressed our opinions about poverty, violence and discrimination. I made my voice

heard and I was able to talk on behalf of the marginalised, poor and disadvantaged black young people from the slums”.

Caroline, age 21, Brazil

4.4 Priority 4: Build capacities and improve resources

OBJECTIVE: Cutting-edge child and youth participation resources, tools and

guidance are relevant, easily accessible and utilised by staff members, partners,

children and youth.

This Strategic Direction has identified the development of resources, tools and capacity building as an

important factor for meaningful child and youth participation. There is an increasing need to transform

traditional views of children and youth by recognising that they themselves are holders of their own

rights. In order to achieve this, World Vision will work to strengthen the learning and development of

staff members, partners and community members to challenge their own long-established attitudes that

discourage the participation of children and youth based on the belief that they are not ready to make

choices on important matters in their lives.

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World Vision is aware that the only way that this Strategic Direction can succeed is by providing staff

members with the core competencies in terms of the knowledge and attitudes required to work with

children and youth from an empowering perspective. Staff members are called on to facilitate

participative processes with children and young people, to support them in engaging with adults in order

to influence decision makers and enter into an intergenerational dialogue.

Part of the Strategic Direction involves the development of tools and resources to assist staff in

embracing these new approaches. Likewise, it addresses the need for learning and development

programmes to equip staff members with the skills and tools needed in order to mentor and empower

children and youth. Part of this should include the transferring of knowledge form staff members to local

partners to ensure the sustainability of their work. Learning programmes should also be developed for

children and youth in order to build their ability to express their own aspirations and experiences, and

also through technical skills, knowledge and competencies so that they are meaningfully equipped to

participate in society.



Promoting and monitoring the use of the WV Guidelines for Child Participation,

Developing guidance materials for intergenerational dialogue between adults, children, and youth,

Developing coaching programmes, training, and learning materials for staff to change traditional adult attitudes toward child and youth participation, including an e-learning module on child and

youth participation

Developing or adapting methodologies and approaches to child and youth participation for fragile, conflict-affected, and emergency settings,

Developing guidance materials for the engagement of children and youth in advocacy and policy work,

Identifying a pool of qualified child and youth participation subject matter experts on the Global Technical Resource Network (GTRN).

4.5 Priority 5: Improve knowledge management

OBJECTIVE: Staff members across the partnership have access to information,

opportunities for professional development, action research and learning.

Knowledge management is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively using

organisational knowledge about a certain topic or sector area. It refers to a cross-disciplinary approach

to achieving organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. While most people think of

knowledge management as maintaining a database of information, it is really about creating a culture

where staff members within an organisation feel confident collecting/documenting best practices,

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pursuing and experimenting with new approaches, and connecting with one another to improve work

processes in a specific discipline.

If World Vision is to be an organisation that stays abreast of the latest trends, approaches, and research

in child and youth participation, we need to have effective knowledge management in the form of web-

based platforms, formal and informal mentoring and training, and spaces, both physical and virtual, to

share, discover, and contribute to new learning. In the internal landscaping process, key informants cited

a need for a common platform for frontline staff members who are working directly with children and

youth to share and receive information. This is tied to the need to build staff capacity in participation, as

effective knowledge management can contribute to strengthening individual and group planning/practice

around engaging and empowering children and youth. Also, opportunities for participation in global

research around participation are limited in part due to the currently scattered and piecemeal ways that

our organisation identifies good practice.

To respond to these needs, a new Child Participation and Rights Community of Practice is being

formed, building on the success of the Child Rights Network.

Effective knowledge management is a critical success factor in achieving the Strategic Direction’s goal.



Establishing a thriving new CoP space for child and youth participation, empowerment, and rights,

Capturing, documenting and sharing promising and innovative practices in working with children and youth,

Building evidence and collaboration in global research with other child-focused agencies around child and youth participation.

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5. CORE APPROACHES TO THE STRATEGIC

DIRECTION

World Vision seeks to embody several core approaches in the way that we do our work in child and

youth participation. The following approaches should be reflected when implementing the goal,

priorities, objectives, and deliverables of the Strategic Direction:

Graph 3: Core approaches to the Strategic Direction

5.1 INCLUSION OF THE MOST VULNERABLE

World Vision’s ministry goal is the “sustained well-being of

children within families and communities, especially the most

vulnerable”. This special focus necessitates an approach that clearly

prioritises the inclusion and impact of those who experience

extreme factors of vulnerability. These factors include:

Extreme deprivation,

Abuse or exploitative relationships,

Serious discrimination,

Catastrophic or disaster situations.

Gender

transformative

Safe and ethical

Rights-based

Intergenerational

dialogue

Core approaches to the

Strategic Direction

Inclusion of MVC

Key documents and useful resources

Brief Overview of Development

Programmes Approach, World Vision

International

Good Practices Guide for Putting WV’s

Development Programmes into Action,

World Vision International

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It is important to note that just because a child experiences one of these factors does not automatically

mean that he or she is among the most vulnerable. Vulnerability is not a permanent state of being;

rather, there are successive stages and factors that can increase or decrease vulnerability. The more

vulnerability factors that a child experiences, or the longer they experience those factors, the more

vulnerable they become.

Our special focus on the most vulnerable demands that all of our resources, technical guidance,

approaches, and programmes be clearly tailored toward the specific needs and situations of the most

vulnerable children, including children with disabilities. This does not mean that we exclude less

vulnerable children in favour of the most vulnerable, but rather that we take the necessary steps to

ensure that the most vulnerable are always identified, included, and impacted by our development,

advocacy, and disaster-management work. Facilitating spaces for participation is a positive way to

address vulnerabilities as children and youth boost their self-esteem, and develop levels of resiliency and

spiritual strength.

Reflection questions that each programme or project area should consider when thinking about how to

identify, include, and impact the most vulnerable are provide in Appendix 7.5.

5.2 SAFE AND ETHICAL

World Vision strives to create safe places for children and to

promote child protection in communities. World Vision

must ensure, through establishing clear procedures, that

children will not be put at risk of harm through World

Vision programmes or interventions.

This Strategic Direction embraces a child protection

approach to ensure the safe participation of children and

youth. Based on this approach, all the World Vision offices

are encouraged to conduct a “Child Protection Risk

Assessment for Child Participation Activities”. This risk assessment is intended to help World Vision

staff consider, prepare for, and protect children from any potential physical, social, or emotional harm

that may arise due to a World Vision child participation activity or project. This assessment should be

completed prior to engaging in any activities that include significant child and youth participation.

The key principles in ensuring safe child and youth participation are: (1) risk for child and youth

participation must always be assessed in relation to context, with special attention given to fragile

contexts; and (2) the principle of participation (Article 12, CRC) must be balanced with the right to life,

survival and development (Article 6, CRC).


Child Protection Risk Assessment for Child Participation Activities, World Vision

International.

Child Protection Strategy, World Vision International.

Preventing and Responding to Distress in Child Participation Activities and Consultation with

Children, World Vision International.

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It is also critical that ethical principles be applied throughout the entire process of child and youth

participation. The key actions to ensure ethical participation throughout the entire process, from

beginning to end, are:

Ensuring that the best interest of every child and youth is the paramount and overarching principle for all engagement with them,

Ensuring that the best interests of the child are respected and protected as the top priority,

Making sure children and youth are given relevant information on the activities, and that this information is appropriate to their age and level of education,

Ensuring that children make an informed decision on whether to participate or not,

Ensuring that children, parents or caregivers give informed consent.

5.3 INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE

Intergenerational dialogue is an effective approach to

empower children and youth, and to create a platform

for dialogue between the members of younger and

older generations. Intergenerational dialogue refers to

the intentional gathering of children, youth and adults

for the purpose of collaborating, gaining insight and

addressing issues of conflict, division and

communication between different generations.

This Strategic Direction encourages intergenerational dialogue and promotes the notion that child and

youth participation is everyone’s responsibility, including parents, children, youth, caregivers,

government officials, religious leaders and community members. World Vision believes that facilitating

child and youth participation is an opportunity to strengthen the natural networks of intergenerational

relationships in communities, and to support interdependent relationships based on mutual trust and

reciprocity. Indeed, World Vision has already taken important steps in this direction. For example, the

Triennial Council of 2013 was a historic milestone which started at the national level, was built up at

regional forums and resulted in new and positive engagement in rich intergenerational dialogue.

“I learned how youth’s voices can be heard and accommodated. Right now, we might ask how it is possible for children and

youth’s voices to be heard by our government. Of course, at this event, I am reminded that all countries must want to look

good and get appreciation at the international level. So, if our voices are unheard by the local or national government,

there’s always a way to raise it to the global level”. Restanti, age 16, Indonesia

At the same time, the Strategic Direction has also placed great emphasis on children’s agency,

competence and the development of more autonomous spaces for children and youth. However, this

approach does not encourage construing children and young people as individuals who are separate


Wyness, M. G. (2013). “Children’s participation and intergenerational dialogue:

Bringing adults back into the analysis”.

Mannion, G. (2010). “After participation: The sociospatial performance of intergenerational

becoming”.

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from families and communities, or pushing adults to the margins of children’s lives. On the contrary,

World Vision affirms the importance of intergenerational dialogue where adult-child relationships are

strong and characterised by shared common interests and goals. This is consistent with CRC General

Comment 12, which states that participation includes information-sharing and dialogue between children

and adults based on mutual respect. In this way children can learn how their views and those of adults

are taken into account and shape the outcome of such processes.

5.4 RIGHTS-BASED

This Strategic Direction promotes a child-rights-based

approach that recognises children and young people as

stakeholders in society, as one group amongst others in

decision-making. World Vision’s endorsement of the

Convention on the Rights of the Child implies that its

policies and programmes need to be developed in

accordance with the principles outlined in the

Convention: participation, non-discrimination, best

interest of the child and the right to life, survival and

development.

Promoting a rights-based approach means that World Vision engages more actively with decision

makers in the broader socio-economic context in which the organisation operates, so that they can

build their capacity to fulfil the rights promised to children in the CRC. It also means increasing the

capacity of communities, children, and youth to advocate for their rights and the well-being of others,

thereby enhancing World Vision’s work of community empowerment for social accountability.

This Strategic Direction aims to strengthen WV’s use of rights-based approaches within its development

programme approach and policy work. This serves to embody the foundational principles of the Child

Well-Being Aspirations and Outcomes, where strategies and programming on child and youth

participation aim to fulfil their rights and get them actively engaged in the decision-making process. In

line with this approach, the Strategic Direction seeks to equip children and youth with tools, knowledge

and skills needed in order to be involved in decision-making processes on issues that affect them.

5.5 GENDER-TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH

World Vision has endorsed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 2 of which sets forth the

principle of non-discrimination, whereby all rights must be respected without discrimination of any kind,

including gender-based discrimination. However, experiences from the field have shown that boys and

girls continue to be treated differently as a result of social norms that define their roles and

responsibilities in society.


UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm

Committee on the Rights of the Child (2009). “General Comment No. 12: The right of the

child to be heard”, Geneva: UN Committee on

the Rights of the Child.

Getting it right for children: A practitioner’s guide to child rights programming (2007). Save the

Children.

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World Vision affirms the inherent worth and

dignity of women, men, boys and girls, who each

have valuable gifts and the potential to contribute

to the well-being of their families and communities.

In our work in child and youth participation, we

seek to reinforce the value of both girls’ and boys’

voices, opinions, and perspectives in decision-

making processes at all levels of society.3

“I am very happy today because our sisters will now continue in school rather than get married, which will help them

in the future”. Boy from Tihun, Sierra Leone

This Strategic Direction endorses the approach of moving away from a representational concept of

gender (e.g. equality of participation, equal access to school, equal numbers of boys and girls trained,

etc.) to one that ensures equitable outcomes. In our work with children and youth, we strive for fair and

impartial representation of both boys and girls in groups, events, and programmes. When building the

capacity of child and youth structures, we seek to communicate the importance of both boys’ and girls’

abilities, and to engage both boys and girls to work for child well-being and the elimination of harmful

traditional practices that affect both genders.

In order to address gender inequalities in child and youth participation, World Vision disaggregates data

by sex and age and analyses social norms that create and reinforce gender inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Reflection questions for a gender analysis that each project should ask are included in Appendix 7.5.

World Vision believes that an ‘open policy’ is not enough, as many boys and girls will need to be

intentionally encouraged through specific activities and inclusive approaches. World Vision staff

members are called upon to develop creative solutions to barriers to participation, in order to

encourage all boys and girls to be included. World Vision’s guidance documents and project models

should equip staff members to include and value the voices of both girls and boys alike.

“I belong to the school council at my school—Lufwanyama Boarding Secondary School. As a school council, we have tried

our level best to engage school management in addressing issues that affect us as pupils. This has been done through

meaningful dialogue in order to improve the delivery of quality services at our learning institution.

This has made us participate in decision-making as pupils/children and also strengthened relationships

between pupils and teachers”. Maruba, age 13, Zambia.

3 World Vision’s new gender equality policy states that “World Vision ensures that women, men, girls and boys

participate actively and equally in the design, planning, implementation, and evaluation of programme activities. WV

works to remove or overcome gender-specific barriers to participation”.


Key Gender Questions for all WV programmes

http://www.worldvision.org/our-impact/gender

http://www.womenthrive.org/

http://www.worldvision.org/our-impact/genderhttp://www.womenthrive.org/

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6. DELIVERABLES

The following deliverables are intended to carry the work of child and youth participation forward from

FY15-FY19. These deliverables have been developed in consultation with over 50 WV staff members

during our internal landscaping process. Details for who will take responsibility for project-managing

specific deliverables, and who from across the partnership will contribute to the process, will be

developed in the 2nd quarter of FY15. The list of collaborators and project managers can be found in the

Strategic Work Plan Document.

Goal: World Vision excels in creating and advocating for enabling environments that

empower children and youth as social actors, advocates and partners for child well-being.

Strategic Priority Integrate and mainstream child and youth participation

Strategic Objective 1. Specific actions are taken to integrate and mainstream child and youth participation in WV’s work in development, advocacy, and disaster

management.

Deliverables Timeframe

1.1. An action plan to increase political will for child and youth participation among leadership including a mechanism to mentor staff members to

implement the Strategic Direction is developed.

FY15

1.2. Develop and implement a plan to mainstream child and youth participation in the different thematic areas of World Vision: education,

health, protection, peace building, life skills and disaster management,

conflict, Sponsorship etc.

FY17- FY18

1.3. Support Regional Advisors to collaborate with NOs for integrating child and youth participation into LEAP 3 Technical Approaches and

Programmes

FY15

1.4. Paper outlining an integrated approach to child participation, child voice, youth empowerment and life skills is developed and published

FY15

1.5. Plan for integrating a rights-based approach and focus on child rights in programmes developed.

FY16- FY17

1.6. Increase use of the Global Child Participation M&E Toolkit to provide recommendations for the Child participation indicators in the

Compendium

FY16- FY17

1.7. Mainstreaming of Child Sponsorship essentials (Child Protection / Child participation, life skills and child voice) is integrated into NO Strategy and

LEAP 3 guidance and tools, and incorporated into designs/ redesigns for

all ADPs/APs across the partnership.

FY16- FY17-FY18

1.8. Child voice/C4D knowledge approaches, and tools mainstreamed in relevant project models, curriculum, and guidance to build a strong

foundation for child voice and expression.

FY15-FY16

1.9. A Conceptual Model or diagram for understanding and applying child and youth participation to development, advocacy, and disaster management

is created and shared.

FY15

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Strategic Priority Increase and strengthen child & youth structures

Strategic Objective 2. Child and youth structures, associations, and networks are promoted, equipped and strengthened, especially those which are child/youth-led.


2.1. Guidance/approaches for effective child and youth “collective spaces” (groups, clubs, etc.) is rationalised into a one stop end-to-end library of

resources. (Will include guidance materials for staff/children,

programming options, M&E tools, sustainability guidance, focus on MVC,

Sponsorship integration, etc. (TC: “Full representation with community

members” and “Establish trust for the utilisation of resources”)

FY15-FY16

2.2. Guidance for developing child and youth networks and strengthening local to national linkages to Civil Society Organisations (Adult or Child-

led) is adapted from existing work in LAC.

FY17- FY18

2.3. Promote and scale the use of Article 15 tools as a means to strengthen self-governance for children and youth’s groups.

FY16- FY17

2.4. A concept for a virtual child and youth internet based group for connecting child and youth networks with appropriate technology to

bridge on-line and off-line connections is developed and implemented.

FY17- FY18

Strategic Priority Promote Accountability to children and youth

Strategic Objective 3. Children and youth have access to information and to safe and effective mechanisms to hold WV, governments and duty-bearers, and other

key stakeholders at the community, national and international level, to

account


3.1. Collaboration and coordination with other agencies working in child and youth participation established at the global and regional levels. (TC:”

Shared strategies so services do not become redundant.”)

FY15

3.2. Set up an effective monitoring system to track the response to the CAY recommendations to the Triennial Council. (TC: “Include youth in

National Board Meetings and Governance)

FY15

3.3. Adapt current CVA model to include child participation, expression, and voice in social accountability, based on innovation and good practice in

WV Brazil and other National Offices

FY15- FY16- FY17

3.4. Increase, upscale and standardise submission of child and youth-led reports to treaty bodies such as the CRC and UPR.

FY16

3.5. Global research into child-friendly accountability mechanisms is completed and recommendations disseminated.

FY15- FY17

3.6. Contribute to the creation of an accountability system for children and youth to keep governments accountable to the Post-2015 development

agenda

FY17- FY18- FY19

Strategic Priority Build capacities & improve resources

Strategic Objective 4. Cutting edge child and youth participation resources, tools and guidance are relevant, easily accessible and utilised by staff members,

partners, children and youth.


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4.1. Guidance for intergenerational dialogue between adults, children, and youth according to age and ability is developed and disseminated.

FY15

4.2. Coaching programs, training, and learning materials for staff to change traditional adult attitudes and shift managerial roles into a collaborative,

partnering, mentoring role with children are developed. (TC: Adults as

consultants rather than facilitators)

FY15-FY16

4.3. Develop or adapt methodologies and approaches to child and youth participation for fragile, conflict-affected, and emergency settings.

FY16-FY17

4.4. Promote and monitor the use of the WV Guidelines for Child Participation and the SEP003 Resource Pack for facilitators (“Facilitating

the Engagement of Children”)

FY16

4.5. Develop a module for Sponsorship Basic Training 2.0 and Development Basics training for child and youth participation and voice.

FY16

4.6. Task force formed to provide guidance, recommendations, and analyse capacity gaps in ADPs/NOs for mainstreaming ADP-wide, community-

based child participation across all ADPs through SIP mainstreaming

FY16

4.7. Conduct Action Learning within 3 ADPs on promotion of ADP-wide community-based child participation as part of mainstreaming of SIP.

FY16- FY17

4.8. Guidance for engagement of children and youth in advocacy and policy work, including their participation in global advocacy events is developed

and disseminated

FY16

4.9. Pool of qualified Child and Youth Participation subject matter experts are identified and validated on Global Technical Resource Network

(GTRN).

FY16

Strategic Priority Improve knowledge management

Strategic Objective 5. Staff members across the partnership have access to information, opportunities for professional development, action research and

learning.


5.1. Establish a user friendly platform for the new Child Participation and

Rights CoP (which cuts across development, disaster management, and

advocacy programming)

FY15

5.2. Establish interest and working groups in the new CoP structure with

strong leadership, vision, and work plans

FY15

5.3. Promising and best practices in participation, empowerment, and rights-

based approaches (especially sector-based examples) are identified,

celebrated, shared, and scaled up across the Partnership to give

children’s work increased visibility and credibility.

FY16- FY17

5.4. A mechanism/process for mentoring CoP members in specific

skills/approaches related to participation, empowerment, and rights

based approaches is developed

FY16- FY17

5.5. Opportunities for input into global and regional level research, evidence

building, policy making, and learning identified and shared in partnership

with the new Evidence and Learning Unit.

FY17- FY18

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APPENDIXES

7.1 Appendix: Key definitions and terms

Adolescent: World Vision defines adolescents as young people aged 12 -18 years.

Advocacy: Advocacy is an approach that seeks to address the structural and systemic causes of

poverty by changing policies, systems, practices and attitudes that perpetuate inequality and deny justice

and human rights. Advocacy is a ministry of influence using persuasion, dialogue and reason to obtain

change. It can be carried out with those affected by poverty and injustice, for those affected or by those

affected.

Agency: Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently by both shaping their own lives, and

to influence their social contexts.

Child: World Vision defines child as every human being below the age of eighteen years as stated in

Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Child Empowerment: Child empowerment approach is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process

whereby children and young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and

implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including children, youth and adults.

(Adapted from Vavrus, & Fletcher Guide to social change led by and with young people. 2006)

Child Participation: Child participation is when children under 18 years of age contribute to decisions

and take action on issues that affect their lives. This is best done through empowering children and

nurturing positive relationships between children, adults, and communities based on mutual respect and

partnership at familial, local, national, and international levels.

(World Vision International, 2012)

Child rights-based approach: A rights-based approach sees the child in the context of family,

community, the State and other social structures. The balance between protecting children’s right to

participate directly in decisions that affect them, and holding children accountable for their own exercise

of rights, shifts by age and stages of personal development, not by status. (Here We Stand: World Vision

and Child Rights. 2nd edition)

Citizenship: Citizenship represents the collection of rights and obligations that define the members of

a community. All children are born with civil, political and economic rights. These rights enable them to

practice their citizenship- at least to some extent. (Children as Active Citizens, Inter-Agency Working

Group on Children’s Participation, 2008).

Competency: Competency is when the child is mature enough to make decisions,

Consultation v/s participation: Consultation is ‘seeking views’ and participation is ‘the direct

involvement of children in decision-making’

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Ethical participation: Children’s participation is transparent, honest, accountable and with equality of

opportunity. (Getting it Right for Children, Save the Children, 2007)

Evolving capacities: Evolving capacities are the development of children’s capacity to form a view that

is determined by information, experience, environment, and social and cultural expectations. (CRC

General Comment 12)

Meaningful participation: Children and young people have the opportunity to express their views,

influence decision-making and achieve change in areas that affect their lives. Participation is informed,

relevant and voluntary. (Getting it Right for Children, Save the Children, 2007)

Most Vulnerable Children: World Vision considers the most vulnerable children as those whose

quality of life and ability to fulfil their potential is most affected by extreme deprivation and violations of

their rights.

Young people: World Vision defines as young people children aged 15–18 years. This term respects

the reality that many older children prefer the category ‘young people’ to ‘children’.

Youth: World Vision defines youth as young people aged 15–24 years, recognising that WV

Programmes and other agencies use varying age ranges in their definitions of youth.

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7.2 Appendix: Strategic Direction Working Group

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7.3 Appendix: Members of the Advisory Committee Name

Office/Region Position Title

1. Patricia Horna RO - LACRO Regional Coordinator for Participation

2. Eunice Ramirez NO - Dominican Republic Child Participation Adviser

3. Victoria Jimenez NO - Peru Child Participation Adviser

4. Ana Alvear NO - Nicaragua Child Participation Adviser

5. Sophia Petriashvili, RO - MEER YE LH Leader

6. Nana Berdzenishvili RO - MEER YE Manager

7. Artak Shakaryan RO - MEER YE Specialist

8. Brikena Zogaj RO - MER CPP LH Leader

9. Olivia Pennikian NO - Lebanon Advocacy Manager

10. Mario Stephano NO - Lebanon Child Participation and Advocacy Officer

11. Jurgena Hajdaraj NO - Albania Youth Advisor/Manager

12. Stella Nkrumah-Ababio RO - WAR Child Protection and Child Focus Advisor

13. Dian NO - Mauritania Child Protection

14. Elisabeth NO Child Protection

15. Gregory Dery NO - Ghana Child Protection

16. Henri Richard RO - WAR WARO Senior Regional Sponsorship Advisor

17. Jaime Chivite RO - SAR SAR Child Protection Advisor

18. Lifuna Simushi NO - Zambia Child Rights Advocacy Coordinator

19. Lizzie Chifundo Lombe NO - Malawi Regional Advocacy Coordinator - Ops Centre

20. Krescencia Shoko NO - Zimbabwe Sponsorship Manager

21. Tholakele Zulu -Solomon NO - South Africa National Child Protection Coordinator

22. Maseisa Ntlama NO - Lesotho Advocacy and Gender Manager

23. N/A NO - Mozambique Protection Offices

24. Leen Decadt RO - East Asia East Asia Child Protection Advisor

25. Aimyleen Gabriel NO - Cambodia Child Protection Technical Manager

26. Ulzi Togoodoi NO - Mongolia Child Protection Specialist

27. Nara NO - Mongolia Using child-to-child approach

28. Tuvaana NO - Mongolia Participation

29. SiSi Minyt NO - Myanmar Protection Department Manager

30. Abid Gulzar RO - Asia Advocacy Director

31. Khong huon Lan NO - Vietnam External Relations and Advocacy Director

32. Le Thi Khanh Van - NO - Vietnam National Child Protection Coordinator

33. Deepesh Paul Thakur WV Mongolia Public Engagement Director

34. Maya Assaf GC Program Officer, Global Response Team

35. Stuart Kean GC Senior Policy Adviser, Vulnerable Children and HI/AIDS

36. Maia Woodward GC Community Voice Projects Manager

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37. Matt Scott GC Director, Peacebuilding

38. Jeanne Kwak GC Specialist Citizen, Child & Youth Engagement Post 2015

39. Ben Grierson-Hill GC Senior Campaign Advisor, Global Campaigns

40. Jennifer Philpot-Nissen GC Senior Advisor, Human Rights

41. Carla Lewis WVUK Design, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

42. Steve Richards WVUK Children's Communications Specialist

7.4 Appendix: Process

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7.5 Appendix: Core Approaches – Reflection Questions

5.1: Reflection questions for inclusion of the most vulnerable children

Has there been an analysis to identify which children in the project area are more vulnerable

than others? Have there been considerations for children with disabilities, children from ethnic

minorities, those who are not in school, those with a particular health or social status, etc.?

How has the project taken into account the special needs of children with learning, mental, and

physical disabilities? Are staff and children sensitised and equipped to accept and work alongside

children with some form of disability? Are children with disabilities sensitised to participate in

groups with other children?

How do your project’s M&E framework and data-collection methods reflect a priority on the

most vulnerable? Is data disaggregated by vulnerability factors? How does the process ensure

inclusion of the voices of the most vulnerable?

5.5: Gender Transformative Approach

How do the different roles of boys and girls affect project implementation? This question

examines the role of males and females in different age groups within a given social, political,

economic, legal, cultural and traditional context, and how these roles restrict access and control

over the course of the planned programme activities.

How are boys and girls participating? What are the barriers to the participation of boys and/or

girls in project activities?

How do the anticipated project results affect boys and girls differently? This question examines

the possible different effects on boys and girls and calls for necessary adjustment of design to

ensure equitable and sustainable programme impact.

How do the M&E framework and data collection reflect gender sensitivity? Do the logframe,

indicator tracking table, and M&E plan include gender-sensitive indicators? Is the data collected

disaggregated by sex and age? Do data analysis and reports reflect the differences between

men, women, boys and girls? How does the project ensure inclusion of males and females in the

data collection, design and evaluation processes?

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7.6 Appendix: Triennial Council Recommendations

The five recommendations from the 2013 Council are worded in the exact language that the 35 children

and youth chose during their pre-council workshop in Arusha, Tanzania. The extra information below is

meant to help elaborate on the meaning and intent behind each recommendation. Please note that these

elaborations are adult interpretations of the recommendations based on comments and explanations

from children and youth.

Shared strategies so services do not become redundant: WV works with other child-focused

organisations in a child’s community to benefit children and youth. WV respects children’s time,

schedules, and other activities.

Full representation with community members: WV opens up spaces and opportunities for children and

youth to present their views to community leaders, adults, and other decision makers.

Establish trust for the utilization of resources: WV helps children and youth get the necessary resources

to accomplish their group’s goals. WV facilitates connections with other children’s groups and

networks.

Adults as consultants instead of “managers”: WV adults help build children and youth’s leadership skills

to facilitate and take the lead in their respective groups. WV adults know and understand how

interact with children and youth that empowers them as leaders.

Include youth in NO board meetings and governance: WV asks for children and youth’s advice and

opinions in their board meetings or strategy meetings.

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7.7 Bibliography Archard, D. (2004) Children: Rights and Childhood, London: Routledge.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm.

Hanson, K. and Nieuwenhuys, O. (2013) Reconceptualising Children's Rights in International Development: Living

rights, Social Justice, Translations. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Hart, R. (1992) Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship, Florence: UNICEF International Child

Development Centre.

James, A. (2004) Constructing Childhood: Theory, Policy and Social Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kirby, P. and Bryson, S. (2002) Measuring the magic? Evaluating and researching young people’s participation in

public decision making, London: Carnegie Young People Initiative.

Krappmann, L. (2010) The weight of the child’s view (Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child), The

International Journal of Children’s Rights, 18 (4), pp501-513.

Lansdown, G. (2005) The evolving capacities of the child, Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Insight.

Lansdown, G. (2011) Every Child’s to Be Heard- A resource guide on the UN Committee on the Rights of the

Child General Comment No.12, London: Save the Children and UNICEF.

Le Borgne, C. (2015) What next? Ways forward for children’s and young people’s participation, World Vision

International.

Lundy, L. (2007) Voice is not enough: conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights

of the Child, British Educational Research Journal, 33 (6), pp927-942.

Mannion, G. (2010). ‘After participation: The sociospatial performance of intergenerational becoming’. In A

Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation: Perspectives from Theory and Practice, ed.

Percy-Smith, B., and Thomas, N. London: Routledge.

Mayall, B. (2000) The sociology of childhood in relation to children’s rights, The International Journal of Children’s

Rights, 8, pp243–259.

Percy-Smith, B. (2010) Councils, consultations and community: rethinking the spaces for children and young

people’s participation, Children’s Geographies, 8(2), pp107-122.

Shier, H. (2001) Pathways to participation : openings, opportunities and obligations, Children & Society, 15, pp107-117.

Smith, A. (2002) Interpreting and supporting participation rights: Contribution from sociocultural theory,

International journal of Children’s Rights, 10, pp73-78.

Thomas, N. (2007) Towards a theory of children’s participation, The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 15

(2), pp199-218.

Tisdall, E.K.M. (2013) The transformation of participation? Exploring the potential of ‘transformative participation’

for theory and practice around children and young people’s participation, Global Studies of Childhood, 3 (2),

pp183-193.

Tisdall, E.K.M. (2014) Child Should Be Seen and Heard? Children and Young People’s Participation in the UK. In

Tisdall, E.K.M., Hinton, R., Gadda, A.M and Butler, U. (Eds.) Children and Young People's Participation and Its

Transformative Potential, pp168-188, Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Treseder, P. (1997) Empowering Children and Young People: Promoting Involvement in Decision-Making,

Children’s Rights Office and Save the Children.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. (2006) Day of general discussion on the right of the child to be heard,

Geneva: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2009) General Comment No. 12: The right of the child to be heard,

Geneva: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm

World Vision International (2012) Child Protection Risk Assessment for Child Participation Activities.

World Vision International. (2012) Child Protection Strategy.

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