Child & youth participation outcome

“Children” : persons under the age of 18 years old (Article 1, UNCRC)

“Youth” and “Young People”: Internationally, the terms “youth” and “young people” are used interchangeably to refer to individuals aged 15-24 years old (References : UNICEF, 2017, Adolescent and Youth Engagement Strategic Framework, Innocenti Research Centre; UN Youth definition). However, this age categorisation overlaps with the definition of "child” above. This can result in confusion, ie individuals aged 15-17 may be counted either as children or as youth. In order to avoid this confusion, Tdh refers to “"youth” and “young people” interchangeably as individuals aged 18-25 years old.

Quality participation: Tdh adopts a rights-based understanding of participation, anchored in Article 12 of the UNCRC which stipulates that children have a right to be heard and have their views given due weight by duty bearers. Accordingly, ‘quality participation’ is understood as participation that is aligned with a rights-based approach, in line with the 9 basic requirements of meaningful and ethical child participation (Committee on the Rights of the Child - General Comment N. 12: transparent and informative; voluntary; respectful; relevant; child-friendly; inclusive; supported by training; safe and sensitive to risk; accountable. All activities undertaking a child participatory approach should reflect these nine principles, as further outlined in the Fundamentals for Child Protection – Child Participation.

Safe, peaceful, just, and sustainable societies:  refer to communities where individuals, particularly children and youth, feel secure and free from violence or harm (safe), experience harmonious and inclusive relationships (peaceful), have equal access to rights, opportunities, and justice (just), and live in environments that support long-term well-being and environmental stewardship for future generations (sustainable). These societies promote equity, respect for diversity, and shared responsibility for collective well-being.

Collective actions: Collective actions refer to coordinated efforts by a group of individuals working together towards a common goal or purpose. These actions involve collaboration, shared decision-making, and mutual support to address specific challenges or bring about positive change. In the context of children and youth, collective actions can include activities like community projects, advocacy, or campaigns aimed at improving social, environmental, or justice-related issues.

Limitations:

1. You should not report on this indicator if the children and youth you work with have not been engaged in a meaningful participation process, ad minima collaborative and child-led participation projects.

2. Another limitation is around the risk of bias : reflective questions used to measure these outcomes may be suggestive, therefore questions need to be formulated in a way that reduces the risk of confirmation bias, alongside open-ended questions that allow for respondents to describe to us why they feel they are able or are not able to contribute to collective actions for change, alongside their recommendations for future activities or opportunities to achieve greater influence.

Precautions:

Questions need to be formulated in a way that reduces the risk of confirmation and social desirability bias, alongside open-ended questions that allow for respondents to tell us about what were the most significant knowledge and skills that they gained, and their recommendations for future activities.

Any trends in responses to this questions and other questions we are asking in the monitoring tool. For example:

• Any notable trends related to the age range of respondents?

• Any notable trends related to the gender of respondents?

• Any notable trends related to the level of participation (differences between collaborative and child-led processes)?

• Any insights around accessibility and inclusion, particularly for children and young people with disabilities?

In addition, in interpreting the percentage generated in calculating this data, you can make use of additional qualitative information in the questionnaire, for example:

• The response to the qualitative question : “Please complete the following sentence : “After taking part in this project, the actions I would like to take to continue to create a more safe, peaceful and sustainable world are …..”; “What further support from adults would you like in order to contribute to you feeling more able to take collective actions to create a safer, more peaceful, more just and more sustainable world?”

• Responses to questions around the support that children and young people received from adults in their surrounding environment (parents/caregivers, community leaders etc).

• Any absences/ things not mentioned that we would have expected to be mentioned? Followed by an analysis of what factors may have influenced this, for example the explanations for why they did not feel able to contribute towards collective actions in a certain area.

• If respondents felt that they did were not able to contribute towards collective actions in a certain area, then we should refer to their recommendations for what they would like to learn in the future, for example responses to this question : “What further support from adults would you like in order to contribute to you feeling more able to take collective actions to create a safer, more peaceful, more just and more sustainable world?”

Any other qualitative information from the questionnaire in interpreting the percentage generated in the calculation of this indicator.

Tdh’s understanding of child and youth participation draws on two complementary frameworks:

1. the Lansdown model (2000, pp.21-23)  offers a categorisation of three different levels of engagement for children: consultative, collaborative and child-led (NB : see Indicator R&E7 – child participation output below for more detailed information).

2. the Lundy Model (2007) proposes a model for rights-compliant children’s participation which offers a legally sound but practical conceptualisation of Article 12 of the CRC.  This model suggests that implementation of Article 12 requires consideration of four inter-related concepts:

   a. SPACE: Children must be given the opportunity to express a view

   b. VOICE: Children must be facilitated to express their views

   c. AUDIENCE: The view must be listened to.

   d. INFLUENCE: The view must be acted upon, as appropriate.

In addition, Tdh is currently finalising it Child and Youth Participation and Empowerment framework, which should be piloted from 2025 and systematically used as a reference guiding document when planning and measuring child and youth empowerment activities (involving a high level of participation).