WEBVTT

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What is children's
participation?

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So, there are lots of different
definitions of children's

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participation, but the one I
use concentrates on consulting

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children to get their views.

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Really listening
to them, but also

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empowering them
to achieve change.

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And within that
definition, there

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are many different ways in which
children could participate.

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So children can participate in
decisions about their own life,

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but importantly, they
can also participate

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to achieve wider change.

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And there's also lots
of different degrees

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of children's participation.

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So children can,
for example, just

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be consulted in decisions
that are effectively

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being made by
adults, or they can

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be empowered to advocate to
really achieve wider change.

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And I think one of the
things I wanted to emphasise

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is that there is no one
right form of children's

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participation, and the levels
that which children participate

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really depends on the capacities
of the adults facilitating

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that participation, and also
the capacities of the children

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that are involved
in the process.

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So for example, if
you had a child who's

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been in institutional care,
who's very used to strict rules

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and regulations, whose views
haven't really been heard

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or haven't been
asked for, it might

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be very hard to ask them
to get up onto a stage

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to advocate for change.

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And initially you might
want to just consult

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them and get their perspectives
in a more private way.

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And I think it's also
important to think

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about what participation is not,
as well as what participation

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is.

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There's a lot of concern often
that if children participate,

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adults have to do exactly
what the child says,

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and I think it's
really important

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to remember that our, as
adults, responsibilities

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our duty to protect children,
to act in their best interest

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does not change when
they start to participate

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in decision making.

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And if we think the decisions
that children are making

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are not in their
best interest, we

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have a duty to listen
very carefully,

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to really try and understand
their perspectives,

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but to intervene
if we think it's

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heading in the wrong direction.

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How is children's participation
relevant to their care

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and the guidelines for the
alternative care of children?

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OK, so there are
several different ways

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in which children
can participate

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in decisions around their care.

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For example, there may be
decisions about their own care,

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about who cares for them
and where they're placed.

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They might be able to support
it in the design of programmes

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or interventions around
children's care, for example,

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if you were developing a new
foster care programme want

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to consult children to get their
perspectives on how that could

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be more effectively developed.

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And they can also
advocate to achieve change

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around children's
care, so I think

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there are many examples from
around the world of children

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who've left care working
together, coming together

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to advocate for child
care reform to the system.

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And the guidelines for the
alternative care of children

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talk about children's
participation

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in several places.

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They talk about always acting in
the best interests of children

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and consulting children
and getting their views

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to determine that best
interest, and they also

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talk about the
importance of children

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having the information to make
informed choices and decisions

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around their care.

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Why is the promotion of
children's participation

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so important to the
effective implementation

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of the guidelines for the
alternative care of children?

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So I think it's
important for both

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ensuring that care is
necessary, that children

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are placed in care when
necessary, and also ensuring

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that the care that they
receive is suitable.

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So in terms of the
necessity principle,

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I think children have
really good insights

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into the strengths and
weaknesses in their families

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and into whether abuse is taking
place within the families,

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and whether removal from
the family is necessary.

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So it's really important to
listen to their perspectives

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when determining
whether they need

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to be removed from
the family and placed

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into alternative care.

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And also I think in
terms of thinking

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about the suitability
of their care,

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children often have
really strong opinions

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about which form of care is
most suitable for their needs.

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So those opinions are
often are quite different

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from what we might
assume as adults.

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So for example, in Malawi,
there was some research

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done looking at where
children were first

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replaced within the family.

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And there,
traditionally, children

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always - when their parents
die, they're always

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placed with aunts or uncles,
but actually children

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said they would rather be
with their grandparents,

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because they felt they would
receive more love and attention

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and support, and they
were more likely to be

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abused and exploited
if they were

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placed with aunts and uncles.

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And I think that was
something that people didn't

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know before they asked children
and was quite important to take

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into consideration.

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And it meant that really if
you listen to that perspective,

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children were more likely to be
protected and safe and happy.

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What are some of the ways
that children's participation

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in decisions about their care
can be effectively supported?

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So I want to talk about
some of the barriers

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to children's participation
that are quite common,

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and the ways that those
barriers could be overcome.

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So, the first barrier
I think is really

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around adults and their
capacities and attitudes.

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There's often quite
a lot of resistance

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to children's participation, and
this is often quite cultural,

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I think, often, in many
cultures all around the world.

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Children, there's
not a lot of respect

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for children's perspectives.

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And adults seem to be the
ones that have the expertise

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and should be making
the decisions.

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I think one of the
best ways to overcome

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that barrier is to really
expose adults to children's

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participation to show them the
unique insights that children

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have into their own lives
and how articulate they

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can be about their care.

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And adults can also
be quite fearful

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of children's participation, as
I mentioned earlier, they often

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think that it means
that they have

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to do exactly what
children tell them,

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so it's quite important
that you explain

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that's not the case to adults.

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I think adults can also lack
the skills and capacities

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to encourage and facilitate
children participation,

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to listen and to really respect
children's perspectives,

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so it's really important
to properly train adults

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before by they
attempt to facilitate

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children's participation.

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Children themselves can
also be a bit of a barrier.

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They may not have the
skills, or the capacities,

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or the knowledge,
or the confidence

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to participate effectively.

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And as I mentioned earlier,
it's important to start slowly

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and to gradually build up their
capacities and their confidence

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to encourage them
to participate.

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And the environments where
children are participating,

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particularly, if
they're participating

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in more formal decision making
can be quite intimidating.

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So courts, for example, can be
quite intimidating environments

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for children to participate in.

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And I think there
are ways to overcome

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that, that are not high cost
ways, that can be quite simple.

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So for example, in Nepal,
I've heard an example recently

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of a judge who was dealing
with child abuse cases,

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and he simply created
a separate waiting room

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for child witnesses that
was away from their abusers

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so they didn't get nervous or
intimidated by their abusers

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before they went into court.

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Very low cost, very simple
way of encouraging children

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to really share
their true opinions

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and to have the
confidence to do that.

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