Children know their problems the best. Mainstream their right to be heard.
At the St.Olav’s Festival Norway
Two children, Venkatesh (18) and Annapurna (16), democratically elected from their sangha’s representing 190 school children’s unions/organizations and 56 children’s Panchayats (Children’s Local Government) from Udupi, Karnataka, alongwith three adults from The Concerned for Working Children, a Nobel nominated NGO working on child rights since 1985 – represented India at the St. Olav’s Festival in Trondheim, Norway. It is one of the largest cultural festivals in Norway with almost 300 events organized within it. The delegation from India was there to participate in a series of sessions on ‘Children’s Right to be Heard’ that were organized by the Trondheim City Council for the Trondheim Youth Council and the marginalised children of the region. These sessions were to deepen the conversation around the progressive amendment made to the Norwegian Constitution in May 2014 which stated: Children are entitled to respect for their human dignity. They have a right to be heard on issues that affect themselves and their opinion should be given weight in accordance with their age and development.
Sessions on Children’s Right to be Heard
The Concerned for Working Children has been working with the city council of Trondheim since last year to shape these sessions on ‘Children’s right to be heard’. The Indian delegation was there as a resource group to facilitate, participate and engage with the local Youth Councils and marginalised children. In Norway, most city councils are supported by Youth Councils which are a democratically elected body of children who are responsible for representing children’s issues and have a separate budget to act on their decisions. Two workshops on Children and Governance and Information Management for problem intervention were undertaken by the Indian group. These workshops looked at understanding more deeply the nature of participation in governance by children. The children from India presented their experiences of resolving issues within their panchayats through their collectives and shared the methodology used by them. These sessions were also utilized to create tools which would be used to present the Youth Council’s own issues and vision.
Holding adults responsible: The Kempu Patti reminder
Svein Harberg, Leader of the Parliament Committee on Families, Children and Culture and Laila Bokhari, State Secretary for the Prime Minister of Norway – were two important officials who heard the presentation by the Youth Council post the workshops. The Council utilised a method evolved by the children sangha’s of Udupi to remind their panchayats of the issues faced by children. For each issue highlighted by the children a kempu patti (red ribbon) was tied around a pole in front of the panchayat office. Similarly, the Youth Council chose to tie red ribbons around a tree in front of the Nidaros Cathedral which is one of the most significant cultural and historical spots in the country. The red ribbon tied by the Indian children was on behalf of the international community of children demanding that children’s right to be heard be added to the Constitutions of all countries and participation of the most marginalised especially be guaranteed. Ms. Bokhari commented post the presentation that “If something is worth fighting for – and with – it is them. With children like these, the future is here!”
In the public event on Children’s Right to be Heard, Venkatesh spoke to an audience of more than 500 people and emphasized that “The main points we wish to make is we children and young people know about the nature and depth of our own problems best, so we have to be part of the finding the solutions to the problems. There is need to help those of us who are in trouble to find a way out of our problems. To do this, the support and help of adults is necessary.” Kavita Ratna, Director – Advocacy (The Concerned for Working Children), also spoke at the event as part of a panel discussion and added that the primary need of the hour was a change in the adult mindset. Adults needed to open their minds, listen more deeply to children, allow for dissent and mainstream their effective participation through genuine governance institutions. She said that for children to be effective citizens as adults they needed to experience meaningful democratic practices and citizenship now.
The need for Children to be Heard in India
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has declared that the right of a child to be heard enshrined in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is not only a right in itself, but should be considered in the interpretation and implementation of all other rights. Even as the 68th year of India’s independence unfolds, the UN Committee overseeing the implementation of the Convention continues to highlight how the awareness on child rights is still low for both adults and children in the country. It is time that India re-visit its approach and commitment to children and undertake a massive exercise in bringing their voices and wisdom into the fold of governance by recognizing them as citizens today and qualitatively mainstreaming their right to be heard in all its forums.
Children can transform society.
CATS Conference, Switzerland
Two children, Puneet (14) and Vidhya (15), democratically elected from their sangha’s representing 190 school children’s unions/organizations and 56 children’s Panchayats (Children’s Local Government) from Udupi, Karnataka, along with two adults from The Concerned for Working Children (CWC), a Nobel nominated NGO working on child rights since 1985 – represented India at the Children as Actors for Transforming Society (CATS) Conference in Caux, Switzerland. The event is organized by Initiatives of Change, in partnership with Child to Child Trust and Universal Education Foundation.
Children as actors for transforming society
CATS is a weeklong conference set in the beautiful mountains of Caux, Switzerland. It aims to enable children, young people and adults who are advocates for the rights and well-being of children to work together as agents of change and co-creators of a more just, sustainable, inclusive and equitable society. The event which extended from the 26th of July to 2th of August 2014 had 450 participants, including children and adults, from 41 countries from around the world. The Indian children participated in the various sessions such as children as educators, children as peace builders & mediators, children as health activists, children as advocates of Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) etc.
The children along with members of CWC also facilitated comprehensive workshops on ‘Children & Research’ and ‘Monitoring & Evaluation’ for the other participants. They spoke from their experience of supporting and participating in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Children’s Participation Toolkit process. The creation of this Toolkit involved ten projects across nine countries in different regions of the world, in partnership with Save the Children, UNICEF, Plan, World Vision and The Concerned for Working Children. They also shared the methods utilized by them for resolving children’s issues in their village through the collectives’ efforts of information management. Vidhya spoke at the Night of Possibilities event to an audience of over 250 people and shared how the children’s collective in her village had managed to tackle the issue of alcoholism. She also encouraged other children present to engage on issues of governance and recognize that they are citizens today. The slogan ‘Children are citizens today’ resounded in the auditorium. In the concluding ceremony, CWC team along with INFANT, Peru, an NGO which works on the issue of child labour, released a Children’s Declaration from Caux which highlighted the need to enhance children’s right to: be heard, to participation, to protection and safety, to association, to speech and expression. They additionally highlighted the need to ensure the participation of marginalised children and the ethical use children’s images within the new media spaces. Kavita Ratna, Director – Advocacy (CWC), is also an Advisory Committee Member to the CATS event.
Recognising children as agents of change
Even as the 68th year of India’s independence unfolds, the UN Committee overseeing the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) continues to highlight how the awareness on child rights is still low for both adults and children in the country. The society largely continues to view children as passive and incapable of self-determination. Events such as CATS are showcasing how countries are changing this mindset towards children and seeing and experiencing them as active participants in the process of positive change. It is time that India re-visit its approach and commitment to children and undertake a massive exercise in bringing their voices and wisdom into the fold of governance by recognizing them as citizens today and qualitatively mainstreaming their right to be heard in all its forums.
