Over the past 15 months, eight children and young people from Bolivia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have worked together to address gaps in meaningful child participation in global decision‑making. Their experiences, reinforced by two global surveys and a virtual conference, revealed that children are often underrepresented in policy discussions and that when they are included, the quality of participation is inconsistent.
To respond, they formed the Children and Young People’s Task Group and developed a set of standards to promote safe, inclusive, and effective participation in global events. Rooted in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the standards emphasize that children have the right to be heard in matters affecting them. The group drew on existing frameworks such as the Lundy Model of Participation and the UN Committee’s Nine Basic Requirements of Child Participation, organizing their standards into three phases: before, during, and after global events.
The standards, titled Include Us!, provide practical guidance for organizers, including planning and co‑design, safety, leadership opportunities, peer exchange, influence, and feedback. Francine from Zambia explained that the title directly calls for children to be part of decisions in all environments, echoing the principle “Nothing for us without us.” The standards aim to ensure that children are not passive recipients but active participants in shaping policies and practices.
Helen Griffiths of UN Human Rights emphasized that meaningful child participation is both a right and a necessity for effective human rights decision‑making. She noted that children’s lived experiences strengthen the relevance of global decisions and help hold states accountable. Their involvement enhances outcomes not only for children but for society and the planet as a whole.
The Task Group collaborated with adult organizations, including UN Human Rights, to finalize the standards. They called on organizations worldwide to adopt Include Us! and ensure children’s meaningful participation throughout the design, implementation, and follow‑up of global events. This initiative represents a significant step toward embedding children’s voices in international processes and ensuring their perspectives shape decisions that affect their lives.
