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Children's Rights & Participation Conference

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Alcuin Research Resource Centre Lecture Theatre: 1 July 2008

Children’s Rights and Participation: What Preconditions? What Rights? What Outcomes? What Next?

One day conference hosted by the Centre for Applied Human Rights and the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York

Subsidiary questions:

  • Does participation bring meaningful change, and if so for whom?
  • How important is child participation? How realistic is it?
  • Are there limits to participation (evolving participation, evolving capacity) or clashes between child participation and the participation of others?
  • What are the connections between rights and participation?
  • Who controls the participation agenda?
  • What are the perspectives of children themselves on participatory mechanisms and processes?
  • Has participation run its course and, if so, is there a need for a new approach?

Each speaker is asked to reflect upon the achievements and remaining challenges in the children's and young people’s rights and participation agenda in their field, and ways of taking that agenda forward.

Presentations, where available, can be downloaded.

Welcome

  • Paul Gready, Centre for Applied Human Rights, York

International overview: key participation issues

  • Bharti Mepani, Participation Advisor, Save the Children
  • Sharon Gwati, Protective Fellow, Centre for Applied Human Rights
    Gwatti (PDF , 108kb) 
  • Saifora Ibrahim Barakzai, Protective Fellow, Centre for Applied Human Rights
    Saifora (PDF , 58kb) 

International case studies

  • Jenny Kuper (LSE): Child Participation in situations of armed conflict
    Kuper (PDF , 51kb) 
  • Kirrily Pells (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London): Child participation in post-conflict situations
    Pells (PDF , 158kb) 
  • Vicky Johnson (Development Focus Trust), Child participation and development

UK overview: key participation issues

  • Sharon Skinner and Kalika Sunger, Children and young people from the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), Get ready for change: being a children’s rights champion. Children and young people have been working with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England’s Get ready for Geneva project to campaign for children’s rights in England to be respected and better protected. Through the project, children and young people are being engaged in the United Nations reporting process for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and supported to bring about real and lasting change in their lives, their communities, and in public policy. Get ready for Geneva is led by children and young people, who are fully involved in its design, delivery and evaluation.
  • Rob Williams, Chief Executive Officer of 11MILLION (formerly the Office of the Children's Commissioner)
    Williams (PDF , 1,885kb) 

UK & Irish case studies

  • Tricia Sloper (Social Policy Research Unit, York): Having a 'say' in my life: disabled children's rights to participation
    Sloper (PDF , 78kb) 
  • Ellie Munro (National Youth Agency)
    Munro (PDF , 307kb) 
  • Aoife Daly (School of Law/Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin) Participation of Children in Custody and Care Proceedings Affecting them in the Republic of Ireland
    Daly (PDF , 291kb) 

Summing up

  • Mary Renfrew (Health Sciences, York)

Post-event report