Let Our Voices Be Heard! Children’s right to participate in public decision-making

CHILD PARTICIPATION - 16 July 2024

Let Our Voices Be Heard! Children's right to participate in public decision-making

As part of the EU co-funded project, "Together: Working in partnership with children and youth to enhance their rights in responses to crisis situations such as Covid-19 and other emergencies," SOS Children's Villages has worked with children and young people in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain to develop four short videos on children and young people's right to participate in public decision-making on all topics that affect them.

The Together project aims to contribute to better embedding children's rights in the responses to crisis situations across the EU, by empowering children and young people living in vulnerable family situations and in alternative care to participate meaningfully in decisions and solutions at local, regional, and national level on all matters affecting them. Notably, the project has been recognised for its approach to child and youth participation: in April 2024, the SOS Children's Villages project team in Spain have been awarded the "Transformative Experience Award" by the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion in Spain (EAPN-ES), which recognises outstanding projects that promote participatory spaces and achieve real participation of people in situations of poverty and/or social exclusion.

Videos for children, by children

The topics of the four videos that have been developed are based on the results of a survey answered by 468 children and young people at the start of the project, in which they stated that children should be informed of their right to participate, and the key topics they want to participate in are mental health,education, and peer violence. All of the videos can be viewed at this link. The survey results are also aligned with the key topics recently highlighted by more than 9,200 children who participated in the Europe We Want consultation on what the EU should prioritise for children, with 64% of children selecting education, 59% selecting mental health, and 51% selecting bullying and violence against children.

The videos were developed by the children and young people in each of the project's national Child and Youth Advisory Boards, which are groups of 8-12 children and young people aged 10-24 who support the project activities in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. The groups each selected the topic from the survey that was most relevant for their national context, and then worked with a team of video makers to share ideas and feedback for the creation of the videos. The videos are targeted towards other children and young people, however the messages are relevant for everyone.

A call to action for public decision-makers

Through the videos, children and young people are also invited to add their name to the "Let our voices be heard" campaign which calls on governments to provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and have their voices heard on all topics that affect them.

Are you a child or a young person? Add your voice to the campaign!

All four videos ask for adults to work together with children and young people to make decisions and create solutions that are informed by their views and opinions. To understand how to better support children and young people to participate, public decision-makers and professionals working with and for children can also complete the "Meaningful Child and Youth Participation in Public Decision-Making" e-learning course that has been developed within the project. It takes approximately 1-hour to complete and aims to remind and refresh adults with policy and decision-making responsibility of their duty to uphold children's rights by seeking children and young people's views and taking them into consideration when making decisions that affect their lives.

Join the final project event online

As the Together project concludes, public decision-makers and professionals working with and for children will also be invited to attend the final project online event on 09 and 16 October 2024 at 10:00-11:30 CET.

Within the two sessions, participants will hear about the activities that have taken place throughout the two-year project, including the peer-to-peer workshops delivered to children by young Peer Trainers, and young people who have been involved in the project will share their recommendations on how they would like to participate in public decision-making. Further information will be shared on the project webpage on how you can join the event.

Find out more about the Together project and the other activities taking place!

The Together project is co-funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed within this article are however those of SOS Children's Villages only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.