Ensuring meaningful child and youth participation in decision-making during a non-crisis is the first important step to achieving high-quality participation during a crisis. In addition to having formal robust participatory structures in place, it is crucial to give young people knowledge and democratic confidence.
Build robust participatory structures before a crisis: Ensure that policy documents, decisions, staff resources and the allocated budget are in place, allowing children and youth participation in decision-making at the local level. For participation to work during a crisis, the basis structures must already be in place.
Include procedures for children and youth participation in risk and vulnerability analysis, crisis plans, as well as crisis simulation and training: The entire crisis management structure should include routines for how decision makers should involve children and youth in decision-making during times of crises and how to enable make it possible for children and youth to contact and influence decision makers themselves. Decision makers should include children and youth in crisis simulation and training exercises and preparedness.
Include plans for inclusion and non-discrimination in the crisis management guidelines: Plans for inclusion and non-discrimination should be part of the crisis management guidelines.
Build democratic confidence in children and youth: For children and youth to effectively engage in consultations and dialogue with decision makers, they need to have democratic confidence.
Educate children and youth about their rights and give them the tools they need to exercise them: Developing knowledge and empowerment among youth does not happen automatically but can be achieved through persistent procedures and robust participatory structures.
Background and analysis
It is essential to have well-functioning and robust participatory structures for child and youth participation in non-crisis situations and having measures for applying a child and youth perspective in any crisis management structures.
In other words, participatory structures should be working properly before a crisis. This means that policy documents, decisions, staff resources and the allocated budget must be in place, allowing child and youth participation in day-to-day decision-making at the local level. The quality of the participatory structures and the practice is equally important.
Moreover, child and youth participation must be integrated into the local crisis management structures, as presented in the section on local structures for crisis management in the Nordic region. This includes risk and vulnerability analysis, crisis plans, as well as crisis simulation and training. These participatory structures must be accessible and provide for non-discriminatory participation for children and youth.
However, structures alone are not enough. During the focus groups, one youth coined the term “democratic confidence” and elaborated on how it is important to build democratic confidence in children and youth so that they feel they can have any impact in decision making processes.
“We need to build knowledge among youth organisations and young people on how to reach decision makers. Both on a smaller scale; have accessible decision makers but also on a larger scale – make sure that we build democratic confidence among young people and that they know how the democratic system works.” (Kristoffer Elverkilde, The Union of Danish Upper Secondary School Students)
“It can seem overwhelming to get adults to listen to you. But if you get the democratic confidence and the knowledge on how to influence, then more young people will do it.” (Cecilia Huhtala, Finlandssvenska Skolungdomsförbundet, Finland)
“Encourage young people to speak their mind. Ensure this happens from a young age, so that when the crisis strikes, they know how to express themselves and ask for what they need.” (post-it from conference)
One important aspect in building democratic confidence in children and youth is to educate them about their rights and give them the tools they need to exercise them. Moreover, during the focus groups, young people emphasise how important it was for decision makers to be persistent in inviting in inviting children and youth and having sustainable structures that last over time.
The quality of the participatory structures and a continuous use of them, should not dependent a few and candid individuals, but rather build on long-term interactions and relationships across organisations. Regardless of how involved individual children and youth are in a specific meeting, the decision makers are responsible for inviting them to future meetings. Participatory structures allows opportunities for children and youth to build democratic confidence.
“In
Trøndelag we have been invited to a lot of online meetings with the city council. At the first meeting we said nothing but they continued to invite us.” (Petter Lona, School Student Union of Norway)