Three organisations meet for an international conference on children’s participation

November 2012

Child to Child’s Director Tricia Young was in Paris earlier this month, to meet with representatives of the organisations Initiatives of Change (IofC) and Universal Education Foundation (UEF) and discuss the creation of a series of conferences on children’s participation.

CATS team

The CATS Team, from Child to Child, Universal Education Foundation and Initiatives of Change, in Paris office.

Children’s participation is a key concept of Child to Child, as we recognise children’s potential in changing their lives when they are involved in decisions which affect them. The two other organisations, IofC and UEF, also try and enhance children’s participation throughout their development programmes around the world.

Together with Jonathan Levy from IofC and Daniel Kropf from UEF, Child to Child’s Director Tricia Young will lead the international momentum for children’s participation in society, starting with an international conference in July 2013 called Children as Actors for Transforming Society – CATS. The first of a three years-series, this conference will focus on sharing experiences, best practices and hurdles on children’s participation; its theme will be ‘Making children’s participation work’.

Our aims are multiple:

  • Offer a common language/understanding of key concepts and ideas about participation;
  • Take stock of gathered practices and deepen our understanding of what works (and what does not) and why;
  • Achieve a deeper understanding of children’s realities, resilience, vulnerability and how to work with them to enhance their strengths and mitigate the circumstances which undermine them; and
  • Create an environment in which open, frank interactions between adults and young people/children lead to a more flexible and sustainable approach to children’s participation.

While this meeting was productive regarding the Programme Design and the Communications and Fundraising Strategies, the representatives from our three organisations have agreed to meet next February to discuss the next phase of the project: the conference programme.