The toolkit profiles a range of ways to engage pupils and support schools in understanding young people’s views from their diverse school communities and includes short video footage as well as helpful tips, considerations and templates.
This paper outlines MYAN’s Youth Engagement Strategy, which provides a framework for working alongside young people and support them to actively participate in civic life, influence policy, and strengthen their leadership. It sets out MYAN’s approach to meaningful participation, guided by the voices of young people, and highlights the structures, goals, and commitments that underpin this work.
This Child-Friendly Justice (CFJ) Assessment Tool aims to support member states in meeting the standards for child-friendly justice in all situations in which children are likely to be brought into contact with the justice system, for whatever reason and in whatever capacity – as offenders, victims, witnesses or parties – in judicial proceedings (criminal, civil or administrative law) or non- judicial proceedings. The Assessment Tool is intended to assist member states in best implementing the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Child-friendly Justice (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Guidelines’) and in best self-assessing their progress in doing so.
Eurochild is the largest network of organisations working with and for children throughout Europe, striving for a society that respects, protects and promotes the rights of all children. We represent over 225 organisations and individuals from across 41 European countries, reaching approximately 5,000 organisations and individuals on the ground. Our mission is to promote the rights and well-being of children in policy and practice, through advocacy, membership exchange, and research. We aim to bring about tangible positive changes in the lives of children, particularly those affected by poverty and disadvantage.
As a child, you may not be able to make decisions about your health on your own. But you have the right to be involved in those decisions just as other children have the right to be involved in decisions that concern their own health.
The Guide provides information and advice, primarily for healthcare professionals, about how to involve children in decision-making processes regarding their health. It starts by presenting the theoretical and legal context and progresses to describe important components of the decision-making process, helping health professionals to understand their role in supporting children, families, and other professionals to enact this in practice. Key concepts of consent, assent, and ‘best interests’ are discussed, as well as common healthcare situations where participation in decision-making may sometimes be perceived as more challenging. Examples and links to good practice are provided throughout.
The best interests of the child are paramount and healthcare services must be child-centred and respect the rights of children and young people.
The Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, has requested the Family Law Council provide advice aiming to improve support for children and young people in accessing appropriate support services and participating in the family law system. The report outlines the history and current understandings of the application in laws, policy and practice of children’s rights, including Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The climate crisis is a human rights crisis, and one of the worst affected groups is children and youth. This same group has been key to climate action in and outside of the courts. As well as engaging in numerous consultative fora such as COP, and in the introduction of a General Comment on the right of children to a healthy environment, they have gone on to become key litigators in climate cases/applications at both national and international level. These justice processes are, however, notoriously ill suited to the particular needs of children and youth. Child friendly justice is a concept which has been elaborated in recent years by the Council of Europe. Yet climate litigation is very different to the cases (e.g. in family law) in which children have traditionally been parties – amongst other things it can involve very public campaigns. This article considers child and youth friendly justice in the context of the climate crisis through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and through the concepts of access, participation, interests, and judgments.
Children and young people are increasingly participating in events organised by international organisations. In spite of a growing body of research on children’s participation in decision-making, little is known about their experiences and the perceptions of adults who attend. This article compares the experiences of 16 children and 12 adults who participated in high-level global events. Three themes were identified, Representation, Capacity and Impact. Findings suggest that while children and adults identified similar opportunities and challenges for meaningful participation, children’s perceptions of their engagement differed from adults’ in that they were more likely to be positive about the value of their contribution.