Children as Advocates

224 Pages·2010·1.84 MB·English

UNICEF HANDBOOK
Children as Advocates
Strengthening Child and Young People’s
Participation in Advocacy Fora
June 2010
Compiled by
Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Unit
Gender Rights and Civic Engagement Section
Policy and Practice
UNICEF-HQ, New York

UNICEF HANDBOOK
Children as Advocates

STRENGTHENING
CHILD AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION
IN ADVOCACY FORA
June 2010
Compiled by
Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Unit
Gender Rights and Civic Engagement Section
Policy and Practice
UNICEF-HQ, New York

Introductory Note
This Handbook on Child and Young People’s Participation in Advocacy Fora has been prepared
by the Adolescent Development and Participation unit, Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement
Section, Policy and Practice in UNICEF Headquarters, New York with technical advice and
support from Ravi Karkara, Child and Adolescent Participation Specialist, ADAP/DPP, Sarah
Lea Ansel, former Assistant Project Officer, ADAP/DPP and Elisa Calpona, Consultant, ADAP/
DPP. A number of key UNICEF staff and partners from country and regional offices have also
provided extensive input to this Handbook.
The Handbook was compiled in response to a growing need to consolidate the existing
protocols, guidelines and resource documents in strengthening children and young people’s
participation in advocacy at various national, regional and global meetings and events that
UNICEF has supported over these last years. It aims at providing minimum standards and
guidance on how to organize a children and young people’s meeting. Although a multitude
of standards and guidelines are available on children and young people’s participation
in meetings, it is not always easily accessible or well organized. This Handbook has been
developed for organizers of such meetings, UN staff, and others interested in children and
young people participation in global advocacy.
The Handbook uses documents and guidance material from the UN Special Session on
Children New York 2002, the 4th Children’s World Water Forum Mexico 2006, and the Junior
8 Summits between 2005 and 2009. The Handbook incorporates the Minimum Standards on
Consulting with Children, the Protocol and Evaluation Report on Children’s Participation at the
East-Asia Pacific Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children.
Hyperlinks have been provided throughout the Handbook to enable easier access to additional
resources. As a working document, this Handbook will periodically undergo revisions to
improve its programmatic utility for UNICEF and partners.
Comments and suggestions are welcome from UNICEF staff and partners.
Please send comments to [email protected]
Victor P. Karunan,
Chief of Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP)
Gender Rights and Civic Engagement Section (GRaCE)
Policy and Practice (DPP)
UNICEF Headquarters
New York
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CONTENTS
PART A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................9
A.2 Child and Young People’s Participation .................................................................10
A.2.a What is meaningful Child Participation? ..................................................10
A.2.b Real vs. False Participation ........................................................................17
A.2.c Guidelines on Child Participation in International Meetings .................19
A.3 Minimum Standards for Consulting with Children .............................................24
A.4 Introduction to United Nations and UNICEF ........................................................27
A.5 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ...........................................................31
A.6 Child Protection Policy ...........................................................................................35
A.7 Good Practice Examples of child and Young People’s participation in events ..36
A.7.a United Nations Special Session on Children, 2002, NY .........................36
A.7.b C8 Children’s Forum, 2005, UK .................................................................39
A.7.c Junior 8 Summit, 2009, Italy .....................................................................41
A.8 Developing Child and Adolescent Friendly Learning Materials ..........................47
PART B. PLANNING A MEETING WITH CHILDREN
B.1 Guidelines for Selection & Participation Process ................................................51
B.1.a Child Participants .......................................................................................53
• Guidelines on the Selection of Child Participants ............................51
• Guidelines on the Participation of Child Participants .......................53
• “Children select their Representatives” – Guidelines for a
democratic election process of children and young people ............55
B.1.b Chaperones ................................................................................................57
• Guidelines on the Selection & Participation of Chaperones ............57
B.1.c Translators ..................................................................................................65
• Guidelines for Translators/Interpreters ..............................................65
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B.1.d Facilitators ..................................................................................................67
• General Guidelines for Facilitators ....................................................67
• Terms of Reference for “Adult” Facilitator ........................................69
• Terms of Reference for “Young” Facilitator ......................................71
B.1.e Youth Journalists .......................................................................................73
• Guidelines on Selection & Participation of Youth Journalists .........73
B.2 Information & Consent Forms ...............................................................................75
B.2.a Child Participants .......................................................................................75
• Information Form ................................................................................77
• Child Participant Consent Form ........................................................89
• Child Participation Agreement ...........................................................91
B.2.b Parents/Guardians .....................................................................................95
• Parents/Legal Guardians Consent Form ............................................97
B.2.c Chaperone ................................................................................................101
• Chaperone Information Form ...........................................................101
• Chaperone Participation Agreement ...............................................109
• Chaperone-Child Participant Information Form ..............................115
• Child Participant Medical History Form ...........................................117
• Travel Information Form ...................................................................119
• Travel Check List for Chaperones .....................................................121
B.2.d Schools .....................................................................................................123
• School Consent Form ........................................................................123
B.2.e National Committees/Country Offices ...................................................125
• Application Checklist .........................................................................125
PART C. PARTICIPATING IN A MEETING
C.1 Briefing of Child Participants ...............................................................................129
C.1.a Briefing of Child Participants ..................................................................129
C.1.b Child Participants’ Preparation Guidance ..............................................130
C.2 Briefing of Chaperones & Adults participating in a meeting with children .....132
C.2.a Do’s and Dont’s of working with young people ....................................132
C.2.b Chaperone’s Game: Refreshing the Understanding of a Chaperone ..133
C.3 Training of Facilitators ..........................................................................................134
C.3.a Understanding the role of a facilitator ...................................................136
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• Facilitating for Children and Young People .....................................136
• Guidelines for a Facilitator ...............................................................137
• The A to Z of facilitating ...................................................................137
• Keep the energy flowing ...................................................................145
• Steps for designing a Workshop ......................................................148
• Planning Workshops with and for children and young people .....151
• Methods and Techniques ..................................................................152
C. 4 Training of Young Journalists ...............................................................................159
C.4.a Young Journalist’s Pack ...........................................................................159
C.5 Media Training .......................................................................................................175
C.5.a UNICEF Ethical Guidelines for Reporting on Children ..........................175
C.5.b Media Facilitators Guidance ...................................................................177
C.5.c Guidance on Best Practice Youth Media.................................................180
PART D. ENSURING QUALITY FOLLOW-UP TO A MEETING
D1. Guidelines..............................................................................................................187
D.1.a Guidelines on follow-up actions .............................................................187
D.1.b Children Participating in Research, Monitoring
and Evaluation (M&E) .............................................................................188
D.2 Child Participants Evaluation ...............................................................................193
D.2.a Evaluation Form .......................................................................................193
D.2.b Follow-up questionnaire .........................................................................195
D.2.c. Junior 8 Summit 2008 – Note on Followup ..........................................197
D.2.d. Journal 8 – a follow up Newsletter to Junior 8 Summits .....................201
PART E. REFERENCE LIST
E.1 Capacity Building in Child Participation .............................................................205
E.2 Child Participation and Global Advocacy ............................................................211
E.3 Evaluation and Follow-up to Child Participation ...............................................217
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