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Learning from a Living Archive: Rejuvenating Child and Youth Rights and Participation

This working paper reflects the findings of the first phase of the REJUVENATE project, which set out to understand and map approaches to integrating children, youth, and community participation in child rights initiatives.

In this paper, the authors:

  • present a user-friendly summary of the existing tradition of substantive children’s participation in social change work;
  • share case studies across various sectors and regions of the world;
  • highlight ongoing challenges and evidence gaps;
  • showcase expert opinions on the inclusion of child rights and, in particular, child/youth-led approaches in project-based work.

Grounded in an understanding of child rights as ‘living rights’, the authors propose building on the 3Ps of the UNCRC (protection, provision and participation) towards the 3Ss – space, support and system change.

They offer a set of field principles (REJUVENATE) to guide substantively participatory work with children and young people, underpinned by our Ndoro Ndoro model, which refers to intergenerational, community-driven approaches that put children and youth at the centre, while being accountable to them.

The authors intend this paper to be a springboard for further work that substantively recognises the importance of children’s participation in work to further child rights, and to enrich and rejuvenate the societies of which children are a part.

Full citation: Johnson, V.; Lewin, T. and Cannon, M. (2020) Learning from a Living Archive: Rejuvenating Child and Youth Rights and Participation, REJUVENATE Working Paper 1, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/REJUVINATE.2020.001