Seen and Heard

Seen and Heard, participation of children and young people in Southeast East Asia and Pacific in events and forums leading to and following up on the United Nations General Assembly Special Session for Children.
Judith Ennew, Yuli Hastadewi. Save the Children Sweden, SEAP region, Bangkok, 2002.

This report presents the results of a research evaluation of the participation of children in the Southeast Asia and the Pacific region in events and processes connected to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in May 2002.

From the report:

The contrast is clear. In 1990, children had read statements written by adults. They were seen - but not heard in anything other than a decorative sense. In 2002, they were not only seen but also 'introduced' their opinions and ideas. Yet it might still be argued that, particularly given the frequent reiteration of the phrase 'giving children a voice', this amounts to little more than giving voice to personal opinion and experience (Lim and Roche, 2000). If children's participation is to be associated with democreacy and group representation - indeed if it is to be anything more than a decorative device - their 'passions, questions, fears, challenges, enthusiasm, optimism, ideas, hopes and dreams' must not only be brought to the adult decision-making table and heard, they should also have an impact on the decisions taken. Nevertheless .... the same argument also applies to much adult representation in international meetings.
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(p.29)

A recent article by the same authors which brings out the main points of their research can be found here.