engleski

The exercise of Children’s Rights to Participate through the „Towns and District-Friends of Children Programme”: Can we do better?

The participation of children in all issues that concern them, in the communities in which they live, is undoubtedly an important topic that does not lose its relevance. It is common practice for children to be involved (or at least informed and consulted) in all matters concerning their lives. But Austin (2010) states that despite the fact that children make up about 30% of the world’s population, their voices are little heard and generally lack the ability to influence policy, law, or financial allocation and are not actually perceived as equal citizens. In Croatia, the participation of children is prescribed through laws and regulations in various ways within certain departments such as education (legal establishment of student councils in schools), social welfare (the right to participate in care), justice, health, etc. In practical terms, the exercise of participatory rights it is possible to monitor at the national and local level, most clearly through activities related to national bodies and networks such as the Network of Young Advisors of the Ombudsperson for Children and the National Student Council, and through the activities of children's councils in cities and municipalities. The importance of children's perspectives and children's participation has been recognized at all levels of the Alliance of Societies Our Children, especially through the action "Cities and Municipalities Friends of Children", a global initiative that has been implemented in Croatia since 1999. The intention of this initiative is to create cities tailored to children, where active children's participation is an indispensable element, and children are one of the key stakeholders. In order to give even more weight to the children's perspective as part of the reevaluation of the criteria for granting the status of "Child-Friendly Cities / Municipalities", the current way of children's participation is reviewed and a new working model is developed, which will consider children's participation. 2001): who participates (who is allowed to participate), who listens (decides), what skills do stakeholders have and are needed to participate, and what are the organizational conditions for meaningful participation? The answers to these questions focus on children and adults alike and can contribute to better participation of children in this action and in general in the realization of children's rights in local communities.

child rights, Towns and District-Friends of Children Programme

nije evidentirano