Practical Participation

On 20 November 2009, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrated its 20^th birthday. No longer a teenager, it has become since its birth in 1989 the most universally accepted and ratified Convention the world has ever seen.

But what are its achievements and what are the challenges that lie ahead for its full implementation across the UK? This was the subject of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England’s (CRAE) annual children’s rights conference.

At the conference I was’ live tweeting’ with the #crae tag and sought to capture some of the main themes and draw out key issues as identified by delegates. Over the coming months, this dialogue will continue to help clarify the way ahead at a time of policy and probable political change. Add your reflections as we paint a larger picture and build toward a national conference in the early summer in partnership with Investing in Children.

The driving message throughout the conference was that for 20 20 vision, children’s human rights focus is the vital perspective for change.

Sir Al Ainsley Green, outgoing first England Commissioner at 11 Million, is convinced we have reached the tipping point for children and young people’s human rights in England, with the launch of Working Together, Achieving More.

But he was not suggesting complacency! For example Mosquito devices that hurt the ears indiscriminately of the young, against which there are no regulations at all. “If there was similar targeting of elderly people with their scooters or Zimmer frames there would be outrage,” he said.

Sir Al’s threefold challenges are our government’s treatment of asylum seekers and deporting child refugees, our treatment of travellers and, third our juvenile justice system. “These are regimes that are brutal and not fit for purpose,” he concluded.

Other pressing concerns from contributors and delegates included:

• Young people from CRAE’s Get Ready for Geneva project noted that all of their 14 recommendations appear in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s legally binding Concluding Observations to the UK government – but what’s changed beyond the chance to have a say?
• For another young panellist there is outrage at government’s blanket belief that age discrimination does not affect under 18s. “Government is quite frankly wrong. The Equalities Bill should come into force at birth.”
• Tackle the education gaps caused by poverty, disability and being in care – these are the three education rights challenges for Christine Gilbert, HM Chief Inspector for Education at Ofsted.

And for delegates, what were their top three rights issues affecting children and young people?

• Beings not becomings; better informed on children and young people’s rights and learn from change achieved – Ginny Morrow (V.Morrow@ioe.ac.uk);
• Protect the advances of last 10 years, push for socio-economic equality and tackle youth justice wholesale – Lisa Payne (lpayne@ncb.org.uk);

Add your comments on government progress and the key challenges ahead.

What was clear was that, despite the challenges and disappointments of recent years, we may look back and see this 20th anniversary as a high tide of achievement for children and young people’s human rights in the UK, with the tide of policy and positive politics on the retreat.

On the larger canvass, concluding panellists therefore urged for backing for the current Private Members Children’s Rights Bill, seeking wholesale incorporation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. If this seems wishful thinking, Professor Francesca Klug pointed out the years of lobbying before the European Convention on Human Rights became the Human Rights Act in the UK in 1998.

So happy birthday UNCRC! Professor Klug set the challenge for the coming few years which may yet see a retreat, not just against children and young people’s rights but human rights for all citizens. In this context, she urged that children and young people’s rights do not become a separatist movement, but one held and championed within a wider human rights framework which holds the “vision for society based on ethical norms,” rooted in “the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the mother & father of all human rights instruments.”

Photo Credit: Youth Reporters at IGF09

Since the key role of young people as leaders was written into the WSIS Geneva declaration, there has been some level of involvement of young people in the Internet Governance Forum.

This year has seen more youth involvement than ever – laying some strong foundations for future involvement in this forum, and other internet related fora.

There is clearly appetite for more youth involvement – which is a very good thing.

Soundbites Retweeted. A deeper analysis offered here.

Yet good youth participation requires careful thought – and so to try and offer a bit of deeper perspective than the much re-tweeted soundbyte I shared earlier today, voicing frustration at the lack of nuance in conversation about ‘youth’ in the main session – I offer five (hopefully) constructive considerations on effective youth involvement in events like the Internet Governance Forum.

(1) Avoid determining the outcome of dialogue by the way you set it up

The way you frame a discussion has a big impact on the outcomes. When working with groups (youth or adult) who do not have prior experience of an issue – then the choice of inputs to discussion has a big impact on the outcome.

Instead of a ‘dialogue on e-safety’, perhaps hold a deliberative dialogue on living in a connected world – with inputs both on online safety and on benefits of the web. We need to think carefully about how to equip those who do not work already in Internet Governance areas to participate in discussions of Internet Governance.

(2) Identify the role in which young people are participating

Young people can participate in events in many different ways. As developers of technologies. As experts in their own experience, able to offer additional insights into a debate. As researchers. As campaigners. As policy makers. As learners, and as teachers.

Allowing younger participants to participate as ‘young developers’, ‘young internet users’, or ‘young researchers’ (etc.), rather than as simply ‘youth’, helps us to recognise the diversity of young people, and the complex contributions of young people to the Internet.

It also helps us recognise that young people are equal actors with older adults in many contexts.

(3) Recognise the systematic exclusion of young people & work to overcome barriers to participation

One reason to promote participation for ‘youth as an age group‘ (rather than any other conceptualisation of youth) is a recognition of the systematic exclusion and disenfranchisement of young people in many contexts.

However, systematic exclusion is not reversed by simply giving young people a platform (though this is a start) if the power asymmetries and knowledge asymmetries between young people and adults are not considered and addressed.

These asymmetries can be addressed both by capacity building (but that capacity building has to take into account (1) and make sure it is framed in broad terms), and by careful design of engagement processes and activities*.

(*In particular, a serious engagement with youth participation involves choosing new modes of conversation asides from the classic speaker-panel set-up)

(4) Recognise that no one individual or group can ‘represent’ a generation.

A simple point. But too often the views of one individual are talked of as ‘the voice of youth’.

Representation has three substantive main forms: statistical representation (where an individual presents an average / most common view based on clear evidence); representing a group (where an individual has a mandate from a population/organisation they are representing); representing an exemplar view (where a view ‘represents’ one example of simplified possible view).

Knowing when someone is representative (and in what way), and when they are representing their own views only, is important.

(5) Build on foundations of the years before

Some great foundations for youth engagement have been laid, both at WSIS and previous Internet Governance Forum gatherings.

Wheras older participants, in formal job roles related to Internet Governance, may have a history of being at each relevant summit and meeting leading up to an IGF – young people often only get to experience one or two events and lack the opportunity to build strong personal networks and social capital resources for influencing discussions.

Making sure that each year can build on what has gone before, and can help younger groups to gain cumulative understandings of the issues and opportunities of events like the IGF is key to the continued productive involvement of diverse individuals and groups of young people.

I offer these considerations written on the spot and as a newcomer to IGF – and I very much welcome reflections, dialogue, critique and other thoughts on participation in large and open events such as the IGF.

Reposted from Tim’s Blog

One of the curious things I’ve discovered in seeking to equip practitioners to engage with social technology is that, the more I explore about digital media, the more I end up creating printed resources, or at least, resources based on a book/handbook structure.

That’s the case with a new resource that was published today by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) that is the product of learning from the Network Participation action learning set I co-facilitated earlier this year.

Drawing on theory and case studies explored during that action learning set, ‘Social Media – Youth Participation in Local Democracy‘ is designed to step through some of the issues that practitioners need to consider in exploring the use of social networks and social media in youth participation.

It’s available to order from the LGIU Website, and for online purchase via Central Books.

(P.S. If you’re interested in more practical resources to support youth engagement and youth work uses of digital technology – keep your eyes open, as I’m in the midst of working on a new toolkit hopefully ready early in the New Year…)

The previous one page site.

Somewhat ironically, for most of it’s existence, Practical Participation hasn’t had much of a website of it’s own.

We’ve been busy interacting right across the web – but our own site was a little neglected.

But as the Practical Participation team changes – with Tim stepping back for a year of full time study at the Oxford Internet Institute, and Bill Badham joining as co-director to drive forward all things youth participation and children’s rights, we thought it was time to get a web presence properly up and running.

So, here it is.

Part about us. Part portfolio. But most of all, through this blog, a space where we hope to share useful and practical ideas and resources, and constructive critical thought.