2013 REGIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON PARTICIPATION

“Participation for all the childhoods: a space for analysis and reflection”

From the 18th to the 20th November, Save the Children’s Regional Program, based in Lima, organized de Regional Colloquium on children´s participation. This colloquium had the following main objectives:

- Make a balance on participation by identifying the main learned lessons from the different experiences.

- Conduct a prospective approach on participation.

- Identify the tools that, from the diverse childhoods, enable o disable participation and show the different ways in which childhood and their roles may be understood.

For the colloquium’s development, three main moments were appointed to be worked on the three days:

i) Balance of participation in Latin America from Save the Children’s experience.

ii) Approaches, enablers and limitants on the diverse childhood’s participation.

iii) Future work perspective

“History of the colloquium”

Each day each organization worked by its side, weakened, but one day, they all came to Save the Children’s colloquium in Peru and… found out about each other and started toshare ideas, experiences, what we learned, joy and how each country works.Finally, we discovered that we have common goals.Since then we have learned new working methodologies that allow further development In our participatory skills. The “secret” is that each country organizations apply what they have learned in participation subjects.

During the first moment, participants from different countries shared their experiences in a dynamic way. They arranged different stands and told their experiences as if they were in a fair. Participants were from Save the Children, partners, programs and children lead organizations from the following countries:

- Bolivia - Colombia- Ecuador- El Salvador- Nicaragua- Paraguay- Peru

Among the experiences, we could find the UNATSBO proposals from Bolivia, the citizenship schools from Ecuador, the social movements’ articulation in Paraguay, the participation and communication strategies in Colombia, the children and adolescents consult board in Peru and the children and adolescent’s changes and learned lessons in their personal lives and their environment.

The main aspects that were recognized from these experiences were: • From the children Self

sufficiency, effort and commitment, political and social advocacy, other ways of using communication media (facebook, etc), techniques, tools and materials that allow a better formation and comprehension about children and adolescents, and share the knowledge.

• From the partners Friendly materials that are not necessarily electronic (popular education

principles) and overcome adult centrism.• From Save the Children Alliances between children and adolescents, the

importance of working from the intern of children and adolescents, develop a political conscience in children and adolescents and communication mechanisms.

After the discussion, a SWOT analysis towards advocacy, which was priorized by the children, was done with the following results:

Strengths Weaknesses• Organized children and adolescents leadership,

commitment and empowerment• Children and adolescents organizations and

networks, and social movements presence• Believe in participation’s value• Children and adolescents political proposals• Investigations and data availability for advocacy• Capacity to formulate proposals• Hope, joy, dreams and commitment•Methods, tools and friendly material focused on

rights• Civil society recognizing children and adolescents

organizations in their role of promoting and including participation.• Organizations’ auto management (independence)•Mobilization capacity• Articulation strengthens• Knowledge of children and adolescents and work

on advocacy

• Limits to systematizing children and adolescents organizations’ history. Their appropriation and identity•Members desertion• Lack of access to legal and representative

participation•Major emphasis in products than processes

(sustainability)• Lack of first childhood participation• School as a space for participation promotion• Lack of personal and organic identity of children

and adolescents’ organizations• Lack of indigenous and afro descendants

children and adolescents and other childhoods participation• Lack of political view• Lack of evidence documentation (facts

investigations)•Weakness in monitoring

Opportunities Threats• Existence of international agreements and

integration organisms• Institutions alliances with children and

adolescents’ organizations• Social impact through mobilizations• Children and adolescents law approval advocacy• Regional level network articulation•Major regional exchange• Government opening for children and

• Normative and programing regression in relation to the Children’s Rights Convention• Children and adolescents organizations isolation

within social movements.• Children and adolescents image stigmas• Adult centrist vision• Social struggle criminalization• Use of decorative participation• Children and adolescents involvement in illegal

adolescents• Social networks and some alternative

communication media•Major commitment for children and adolescents’

participation spaces implementation• Base advances monitoring• Strategic political alliances with authorities•Major democracy in the region•Major opening from some organizations towards

participation• Connection with the universities that work

children’s rights• Consulting spaces

and violent organizations• Cooperation retirement due to crisis and non

favorable political contexts• Diverse violence in different contexts• Poverty and population exclusion• Non institutionalized participation processes• Children and adolescents´ organizations weak

or limited access to media• Unsafe context does not allow children and

adolescents to express themselves• Regression to cultures with the irregular

doctrine• Intrafamiliar violence• Parents forbidding their children to organize

Moreover, the second moment started with the presentation of the “Aspects that enable or disable diverse childhoods participation”, with Rocío Valencia, in charge of the Save the Children International Regional Program in Lima Child protection, as moderator. Norberto Liwski, Argentinean social pediatrician and UN’s Children’s Right Committee member-vice-president from 2003 to 2007, presented this subject from a development perspective based on rights and protagonism. Also, Patricia Ames, Peruvian anthropologist and investigator from the Peruvian Studies Institute, presented it from her anthropological perspective.

Finally, the third moment started with the presentation of the “Future scenarios and challenges on participation that allow key actions on joint work”, with Juan Enrique Bazán, Save the Children International in Peru’s consultant, as moderator. Alejandro Cussianovich, Peruvian specialist in childhood promotion, presented this subject as a regional tendency. Alfonso Gutierrez, Peruvian public policies specialist working in Uruguay, presented this subject as a national tendency. Also, Erika

Alfageme, Peru’s Regional Program manager, presented the subject as a local tendency. Also, the 21st and 22nd November, a workshop was held for the technical team of Save the Children International. This was about Childhood Participation Indicators and conducted by Marta Martinez Muñoz, Spanish sociologist that has taught about intervention and cooperation projects, coordinated processes, programs and project teams as an investigator and consultant, and author of articles and essays on projects evaluation, children’s rights and participative methodologies on investigation and evaluation.