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The Interagency Working Group on Children's Participation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, consisting of ECPAT International, Knowing Children, Plan International, Save the Children Sweden and UK, UNICEF EAPRO and World Vision Asia Pacific has just published minimum standards for consulting with children, along with a detailed Operations Manual describing exactly how they can be implemented.
The minimum standards have been developed through six years of practice by the multi-agency group, starting with evaluation of children’s involvement in international consultations, the initial drafting and piloting of the standards at the East Asia and Pacific Regional Consultation concerning the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children, in 2005, and a number of other formal consultations with children in different parts of the world.
What are minimum standards?
Minimum standards are statements of the lowest acceptable level of practice by both adults and children to ensure meaningful children’s participation in a formal consultation or conference. Minimum standards ‘draw a line’, stating what is and is not acceptable for children’s participation.
In general, minimum standards need to be:
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Adhered to: They should have monitoring mechanisms and sanctions if they are not all met;
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Non-negotiable: They draw a line to show what is acceptable or not acceptable;
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Transparent: Clear criteria for each standard give details of the steps an agency needs to take;
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Permanent: They are fixed and followed consistently and constantly;
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Agreed upon: One organization or group is accountable for them (the organising committee) and key implementing agencies for the standards (local partners) understand and agree on them.
(p.11)
The Minimum Standards are based on five principles:
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Transparency, honesty and accountability
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A children-friendly environment
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Equality of opportunity
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Safety and protection of children
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Commitment and competency of adults
The Interagency group is working on a website which will be up and ready soon: iawgcp.com
Print copies of the minimum standards can be obtained from:
Plan International
Asia Regional Office
18th floor, Ocean Tower 2 Building, 75/24 Sukhumvit 19 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand. Tel: +66 (0)2 204 2630-4, Fax: +66 (0)2 204 2629
E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.plan-international.org/asia/
Operations manual
An Operations Manual, for use in conjunction with the Minimum Standards, is a compilation of 34 documents to assist those responsible in coordinating the meaningful and safe participation of children in consultations and conferences.
Many of the documents are templates, with information in parentheses for inserting information relevant to any user’s needs. A few documents are samples, which are examples of documents that have been used in previous consultations and can be adapted for your needs.
For the moment the operations manual can be downloaded at:
or
Further information
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Find out more about children and participation