ABSTRACT
Children’s participation has been one of the most debated and examined aspects of the Convention on the Rights of the Child since it was adopted by the UN in 1989. Books have been written, research has been undertaken, thousands of initiatives have been introduced, and spaces for children’s voices have been created, from the school to the global community. Children have been engaged in advocacy, social and economic analysis, campaigning, research, peer education, community development, political dialogue, programme and project design and development, and democratic participation in schools. The last 20 years have been a period of both advocacy to promote and legitimate the concept of participation, and exploration of strategies for translating it into practice. Indeed, for many people, children’s rights have become synonymous with participation. What is now needed is a stronger focus on the application of that learning to embed participation as a sustainable right for all children, in all areas of their lives. In order to achieve this goal, we need to go back to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and analyse carefully the rights it embodies and the specific obligations it therefore imposes on governments. Child participation will never become a reality without holding governments fully to account for introducing the necessary legislation, policy and practice to ensure that children are enabled to claim their right to be heard and be taken seriously in all decisions affecting them. We also need to reflect on the learning from the considerable body of experience gained over the years since the Convention was adopted, to address challenges that are unique to children’s participation and to explore how they can be met.
