Abstract:

Generally, participation, as a concept in development programming, usually refers to the idea of involving target beneficiaries and/or actively seeking their opinions and inputs into decision-making process on issues that directly or indirectly affect them. Involvement of beneficiaries in this manner is one proven means of securing their buy-in into a project or programme intervention. It is a time-tested strategy that guarantees ownership, an indispensable pillar of programme sustainability. Child participation is not any different. Involvement of children and/or seeking and obtaining their opinions and inputs into decisions that affect them is an established strategy in development programming.

Methodology consisted of Focused Group Discussion (FGD) with children randomly selected from four States in Southern Nigeria. A total of four (4) participating States were selected, out of ten, using compulsive non-probabilistic sampling method, purposive sampling. Most suited for exploratory research, this approach enables a researcher to focus on a specific target group for some unique purpose.

In this work, we analyses information obtained from children and adolescents to establish the extent to which they are consulted in decision-making process on issues that concern them. Our data analysis suggest three factors that are significant in determining effectiveness of child participation in decision-making at home, school and community levels. These are age, gender and economic status of parents.

Based on our findings, we strongly recommend the mainstreaming of child participation strategy into development programming by governments and their international development partners.

Keywords: Child participation rights; focused-group discussion; childhood; adolescents; young people; UNCRC.

References:

[1]. Arnstein, S.R. (1969). Eight rungs on the ladder of citizen participation, Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35(4), 216–224.

[2]. Asker, S. and Gero, A. (2012). The Role of Child and Youth Participation in Development Effectiveness: A Literature Review. Sydney: Child Fund Australia.

[3]. Council of Europe. (2011). Child and youth participation in Finland. F- 67075 Strasbourg Cedex, France. Council of Europe.

[4]. DFID. (2010). Youth participation in development: A guide for development agencies and policy makers. DFID–CSO Youth Working Group.

[5]. Hart, R.A. (1997). Children’s participation: from tokenism to citizenship. Florence, Italy: UNICEF International Child Development Centre.

[6]. Ozer, E.J and Piatt, A.A. (2017). Adolescent Participation in Research: Innovation, rationale and next steps. Florence, Italy: UNICEF Office of Research, Innocenti. Innocenti Research Brief, 2017-07.

[7]. Save the Children. (2014a). a toolkit for monitoring and evaluating children’s participation: How to measure the scope, quality and outcomes of children’s participation, Booklet 3. London EC1M 4AR, UK: Save the Children Fund.

[8]. Save the Children. (2014b). a toolkit for monitoring and evaluating children’s participation: How to measure the scope, quality and outcomes of children’s participation, Booklet 5. London EC1M 4AR, UK: Save the Children Fund.

[9]. UNICEF. (2001). The Participation Rights of Adolescents: A strategic approach. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.

[10].  United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. Treaty series, 1577, 3.