Kabwe (17 years, Zambia), Micah (18 years, Zambia) and Grace (18 years, Kenya), all members of Dialogue Works Children Advisory Committees (CAC), participated in this event and shared their experience. With regard to the impact of the pandemic on violence against children the three youth representatives explained that children face manifold forms of violence, including physical, emotional but also sexual violence due to the lockdowns and the closure of schools. Many children have started to work to compensate for income or job losses of their parents due to the pandemic and are exposed to high risks of exploitation and violence as explained by Micah. The children also explained how their Children Advisory Committees have taken action to support children and families during the crises. They have, for instance started a dialogue with local stakeholders to communicate their messages. “If you want children to stop working, parents need fair wages to be able to feed the family.” Grace, 18 years old from Kenya, serves as a waiter in a hotel “If a girl is working in…

For the past 4 years, we have collaborated with working childrens advisory committees (CACs) around to world. Through this collaboration we were able to push for the participation of working children in local, national and global political debates and at the same time we have learned so much about our work with and for children. These lessons learned will now be put to use: From 2020-2024 we will be able to continue our efforts to amplify working children’s voices and to expand spaces for them to partcipate meaningfully in policy planning and implementation: On October 15th we were finally able to offically kick-off our follow-up project: Dialogue Works – Anchoring working children’s participation in societal and political processes What is Dialogue Works about (in short): Strengthen working children’s participation in local to global policy debates Supporting local Children Advisory Committees with capacity building & child led Advocacy Creating a global Community of Practice to share experiences, best practices and make joint Advocacy efforts Promote working children’s exchange between different regions and countries Make working children’s voices be heard on the V. Global Conference on Child Labour…

Session Description: The exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood and right to education is extremely harmful to their physical and mental wellbeing and deprives them of their human rights. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) there are an estimated 152 million children in child labour, 72 million of which are engaged in hazardous work. “It’s Time to Talk! – Children´s Views on Children´s Work (T2T) is a collaborative research and advocacy project with working children supported by Kindernothilfe (KNH) and Terre des hommes Germany (TdH) in partnership with local and national NGOs and working children’s Advisory Committees. The project was driven by the need to support working children’s right to participation, to better understand the diversity of working children’s experiences, and to ensure that children’s views and best interests inform decision-making processes affecting them.

The report draws on 10 case studies to examine child participation experiences related to different forms of violence, spanning initiatives driven by governments, international organizations and civil society. It zooms in on children’s roles, the methods used, the balance between offline and online, and how each initiative has achieved its impact. It identifies common elements that make child participation effective for violence prevention, reporting and awareness, offering concrete recommendations for children’s rights-based organizations. Time to Talk! is mentioned as an campaign from the civil society, aiming at promoting working children´s messages towards governments, caregivers, NGOs and other related actors. Participation of working children helps to figure out practical protection and risk factors. Key conclusions and recommendations The authors of the report share seven key conclusions and recommendations of their analysis: Adults need to share or even transfer power to children, understanding that this does not exempt them from their responsibility to protect and guide children in the process. Organizations need to include children at the earliest possible stage and trust them with leading roles so that child participation becomes part of the…

Katherina (14) from Peru and Jed (17) from the Philippines were selected by their local CAC groups to represent not only the committee but also all 500 Time to Talk! members from 18 countries worldwide. Speech about working children realities In an emotional and inspiring speech Katherina and Jed told about their lives as working children. They called on politicians to do more to end the poverty that is forcing many children into exploitative and dangerous jobs. “Our parents are working hard and we children are trying to help them. Nevertheless, the family income to survive is not enough! We are committed to a fair income for our parents, “said Jed. Katherina from Peru added: “We need child-friendly schools that adapt to our needs. Our life can not be combined with the rigid school plans! Working children, children in conflicts, children with disabilities have different needs and conditions. ” Decision on Time to Talk! Delegates Katherina and Jed were chosen as delegates in a participative process. All children within the campaign were given the chance…

Child participation in International Development Cooperation – about which importance everyone is talking about but which has not taken of yet in reality. With this booklet we want to strenghten the idea and implementation of ethical child participation in projects, campaigns or advocacy of NGO. The right of children and young people to participate in matters affecting them is one of the cornerstones of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and also the basement of the Time tot Talk! project. Yet there are limited opportunites to ethically participate in decision-making process at local, regional, national and international level. Therefore the Time to Talk! Team, supported by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL, created a Booklet on ethical child participation, a helpful guidance on the basic conceptual knowledge, methods and tools for meaningful participation of children in development cooperation, projects, campaigns and advocacy work. The publication can serve as an introduction to children´s participation, and an adjustable guideline on child participation in planning processes. The booklet in English can be downloaded here: “Getting ready for the journey…