Listening to children and youth in fragile settings: lessons learned from Africa
Mesa redonda
Sobre el evento
Young people are our future leaders. Their contribution and leadership in preventing and resolving conflict and violence are essential to building sustainable peace (Cordaid, 2015). Current needs assessments processes including the UN Multi Cluster Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) do not ensure the systematic consultation of children and youth. This commonly results in the outputs of such assessments failing to include the unique perspectives and experiences of children and youth. Not involving children and youth in such efforts means they cannot influence policies and programs that affect them, and offer a different perspective from adults. It does not help policy makers and planners understand youth and children’s issues, thereby helping ensure policies and services are in tune with their needs. As such a critical question remains: how do we effectively support children and youth, and give them opportunities to make their voices heard and influence projects and programs outcomes in fragile contexts?
Recognizing this gap, child-centered agencies have developed a child specific needs assessment methodology that enables girls and boys to voice their needs and opinions.
In Africa, the number of young people between the ages of 14 and 25 is set to double by 2045 (AfDB, OECD, UNDP, and UNECA, 2012). More than 600 million youth worldwide live in fragile regions (UNDP, 2014). Given that the youth of today are the leaders of the future, and are therefore potential game changers, attention for the situation of young people in fragile contexts is more urgent than ever.
This presentation explores tools and methodologies that have been tested and validated in fragile settings-West Africa. It will specifically focus on case studies from west and central Africa. The paper outlines flexible approaches to primary data collection with children and youth, using qualitative consultative tools. It includes options and considerations for different contexts to enable their applicability in crises that are rapid onset, slow onset or protracted in nature. The aspiration in these experiences in West and central Africa is that they will evolve over time from a consultative process led by adults, to a child led peer approach methodology.
Based on lessons and feedbacks, the paper will highlight key good practices, practical ways to involve children and youth in fragile settings especially conflict, violence that affect them. Finally, and crucially, key recommendations would enable child-centered agencies, researchers, conference participants responding to humanitarian crises to better support children and youth to realize their rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Recognizing this gap, child-centered agencies have developed a child specific needs assessment methodology that enables girls and boys to voice their needs and opinions.
In Africa, the number of young people between the ages of 14 and 25 is set to double by 2045 (AfDB, OECD, UNDP, and UNECA, 2012). More than 600 million youth worldwide live in fragile regions (UNDP, 2014). Given that the youth of today are the leaders of the future, and are therefore potential game changers, attention for the situation of young people in fragile contexts is more urgent than ever.
This presentation explores tools and methodologies that have been tested and validated in fragile settings-West Africa. It will specifically focus on case studies from west and central Africa. The paper outlines flexible approaches to primary data collection with children and youth, using qualitative consultative tools. It includes options and considerations for different contexts to enable their applicability in crises that are rapid onset, slow onset or protracted in nature. The aspiration in these experiences in West and central Africa is that they will evolve over time from a consultative process led by adults, to a child led peer approach methodology.
Based on lessons and feedbacks, the paper will highlight key good practices, practical ways to involve children and youth in fragile settings especially conflict, violence that affect them. Finally, and crucially, key recommendations would enable child-centered agencies, researchers, conference participants responding to humanitarian crises to better support children and youth to realize their rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Presentador/a
| Nombre | Título | Biografía |
|---|---|---|
| Ousséni Kinda | M&E Specialist | Ousséni Kinda is an evaluator and planner. He has worked with institutions such as IFAD, Save the Children, UNICEF, Diakonia, NRC as well as government bodies. His recent work has focused on conducting and building capacity on youth focused evaluation and indigenous evaluation approaches in Africa. |
| Susan Igras | Program designer and Evaluator/Researcher | Susan Igras is an evaluator/researcher whose work spans Africa, India, and Haiti. Over 2 decades, she has focused on evaluation of community-based projects aiming to improve adolescent/youth sexual and reproductive health, gender equality in partnership with with NGOs and government entities. |
| Rugi Kane | Educator and Evaluator | Rugiyatu is an educator and emerging evaluator. For the past two years she has been working with adolescent high school students on building evaluative thinking skills, and guiding them through the process of youth-led research. She teaches at the Senegalese-American Bilingual School in Dakar. |
| Ian Hopwood | SenEval and Adjunct Professor | Ian Hopwood has over 40 years in development practice, primarily with UNICEF in Africa and Asia. He has a wealth of experience in planning, evaluation, policy analysis and advocacy, particularly in the fields of health, education, social policies and child protection. |