ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (UNCRC), CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD, TO PARTICIPATE AND TO INFLUENCE DECISIONS REGARDING THEIR OWN LIVES.
Participation is integral to Save the Children’s vision, Theory of Change, child rights based approach and child rights programming. In Sri Lanka, we prioritize the voices and meaningful participation of adolescents and youth, especially from excluded groups and marginalized communities who may experience inequalities that prevent their meaningful participation.
We recognize the necessity of supporting these groups with essential skills for decent work, economic opportunities, and gender-equitable outcomes, while also fostering their participation in decision-making and community engagement through safe platforms and youth-led initiatives. Key concerns raised by adolescents and youth influence Save the Children’s campaign processes, mobilizing people and communities on key actions that can create lasting change in their lives.
As part of our Civil Society Strengthening programme, Save the Children provides technical leadership on meaningful and ethical child participation and facilitation to feed into governance and national level practices.
In June 2024, we conducted a child, adolescent and youth situation analysis supported by a network of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), to better understand and address the challenges faced by youth and adolescents, which will feed into our strategic priorities and act as a baseline for national influencing priorities.
