When children work together they can change their world 2 When children work together they can change their world When children work together they can change their world 3
Child participation Child to Child’s The right of children to participate is participatory approaches indisputable. Children’s voices should be heard We know that children have far more to offer anywhere where their development, safety and and can do much more than adults realise. Child wellbeing are at stake. In much of the world, to Child ignites children’s innate potential to however, children are marginalised, ignored work together to transform their lives and those or abused. As a consequence, at best they of their communities. Because when children fail to reach their full potential, at worst work together, they can change their world. they experience great hardship.
Participation delivers significant benefits. Child to Child has been at the forefront of Only through listening to children can the best recognising children’s potential to contribute decisions be made, improving outcomes for to the transformation of their own lives. both children and adults. Critically, participation Gerison Lansdown helps children to develop the skills they need International Child Rights Advocate to become active citizens able to contribute & Chair of Child to Child positively to the societies they live in.
Our approaches are grounded in the United The involvement of children and young people Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in decisions about their own lives and their (CRC). They are a practical way to effectively communities is crucial to development. I have implement children’s rights to survival, seen many instances of children participating in protection, development and participation. the governance of their schools, taking health The Convention’s guiding principles of inclusion, messages home to their families and taking non-discrimination and the best interests of action in their communities. The approach is a the child underpin everything we do. crucial one for child friendly schools and systems. UNICEF awarded Child to Child the prestigious Susan Durston Maurice Pate Award for Innovation, describing Child to Child trustee & former Head of Education, UNICEF Child to Child as a revolutionary way of enabling communities to improve their lives through children. About Child to Child We believe that children have the right and Practical application of knowledge to bring ability to take responsibility for being directly about change is a key defining feature of For over 30 years, Child to Child has been at the forefront of developing involved in all matters that concern them – Child to Child. Working to create change in transformational approaches to children’s participation globally including education, health and play. the community develops critical life skills such as team working, communication and problem A UK registered charity located at the Institute Child to Child is a key partner in the only solving. Child to Child enhances children’s self- of Education, University of London, we train the international conference focusing on children’s esteem, self-efficacy and resilience, enabling world’s leading agencies such as UNICEF, Save participation: Children As Actors for Transforming them, for example, to recognise that there are the Children and WorldVision to equip children Society (CATS). This conference is designed and alternatives to violence and conflict. to deal with their most pressing needs. delivered together with children and young people and takes place annually in Switzerland. Whilst the activities are frequently initiated Copyright free, our materials and approaches by or with children, increasing meaningful have spread to over 70 countries worldwide, in participation is a slow and phased process particular Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin which requires time and adult support. Seeing America. Our materials are translated into over the positive change that children bring about 35 languages. Each year hundreds of thousands transforms relationships with adults who of children benefit from participating in Child recognise, sometimes for the first time, 1/ A Young Learner participating in ‘Getting Ready for School’, to Child activities. our early childhood education programme (Bangladesh) what children are capable of. 4 When children work together they can change their world When children work together they can change their world 5
Our areas of expertise Our partners and clients Our innovative approaches, extensive track • Health education and promotion in schools record and expert technical analysis has • Early childhood development made Child to Child the partner of choice for • Children in communities affected by HIV/AIDS international donors, development agencies, governments, private companies, NGOs, think- • Adolescent reproductive and sexual health tanks and research groups around the world. • Inclusive education • Disaster risk reduction We are a respected partner of, and have been commissioned to deliver a range of projects by: • Water and Sanitation (WASH) • Children in difficult circumstances • United Nations organisations, including We were definitely impressed by Child to Child. UNESCO and UNICEF There is a real sense of care and passion for inspiring people to make a positive difference • International non-governmental Child to Child is a leading expert on children’s to children. It was an enriching experience to organisations such as WorldVision participation. The resources they produce are work with them. particularly renowned for being accessible and International, Plan International, Save straightforward which means they are used by the Children and Keeping Children Safe Roz Keating thousands of practitioners across the globe. Senior Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser • Local NGOs across Asia, Africa and Save the Children Denmark Latin America Corinne Davey Director Keeping Children Safe 3/ Child participants in a child-led research project (UK)
Child to Child is the cornerstone of our award- What we offer Capacity development winning community development programme. We provide bespoke packages of support We enable organisations to plan, implement Our Child to Child Clubs provide vulnerable designed to meet your needs. These range and evaluate participatory programmes and children with valuable training on life skills, from tailor-made training workshops to initiatives, from short-term support with project hygiene, HIV/health, agriculture and nutrition, more in-depth capacity building support planning to longer-term interventions. and child rights. With this training, children and organisational development. become empowered community actors, We provided remote support and mentoring advocating for improved health, wellbeing to staff at Childreach Nepal to enable them to and livelihoods in their community. Training undertake a detailed situational analysis and needs assessment with key stakeholders and a Joe Waddington We equip organisations and their staff with subsequent project planning workshop which Director the skills and knowledge to design, deliver resulted in the development of a comprehensive ACE Africa and evaluate Child to Child programmes project to prevent child trafficking. and initiatives. For WorldVision Mongolia, we delivered a A recent example is an eight-day training one-year capacity building programme so they workshop we ran in Haiti on the Child to Child could introduce a comprehensive Child to Child approach to Disaster Risk Reduction for Save school health programme in several regions of the Children (Denmark). the country.
2 / A Young Learner demonstrating how to count in our ‘Getting Ready for School’ programme (Ethiopia) 6 When children work together they can change their world When children work together they can change their world 7
Curriculum development We develop comprehensive curricula in various thematic areas.
Between 2007-2010, Child to Child collaborated with us to design and implement a school readiness initiative popularly known as ‘Getting Ready for School: A Child to Child Approach’. As the UNICEF Education Specialist with oversight of the project, I worked closely with Child to Child. The professionalism and expertise that Child to Child’s staff and expert advisers exhibited in their work was very clear. Abhiyan Jung Rana Education Specialist - Early Learning UNICEF 5 / Boys carrying out survey on community safety at the local market (UK)
We have recently developed a curriculum for UNICEF on early childhood education and for the Albanian Ministry of Education on Sustainability and environmental education. value for money
4/ A Young Facilitator helping Young Learners to count in We undertake detailed situational analyses To ensure that our work is sustainable and our ‘Getting Ready for School’ programme (Yemen) and needs assessments prior to developing the replicable, projects are relevant and locally curriculum and associated materials. We then owned. We foster community consensus and typically train and support local Master Trainers sustained interest, with projects driven by who have responsibility for training teachers and stakeholders from the onset. Where participation others. By building local capacity in this way, we is poorly understood our experienced team of Materials ensure sustainability. expert International Advisers understands how to strengthen and nurture its evolution. We develop and produce resources including Working with Child to Child to develop materials in local languages. teacher training tools for Sierra Leone on Research and evaluation As Master Trainers and Facilitators become how to prevent conflict and the use of children more confident, they require less support UNICEF Ethiopia commissioned Child to Child Child to Child designs and conducts research as soldiers has been one of the most incredible from us and increasingly assume leadership to develop a range of storybooks on health, and evaluation in partnership with children. projects we have embarked on….they were so responsibilities. In this way, Child to Child is hygiene and nutrition for primary school-aged open to new ideas and to finding meaningful inherently sustainable. This can be seen in South children. This project took place over one year We were recently part of a consortium solutions to address problems. Asia, Africa and Latin America where much of and included scoping visits to meet with the tasked with evaluating child participation Dr. Shelly Whitman the participation work taking place with children children and other stakeholders. in the European Union. Child to Child worked Director with 11 partners in five countries to undertake and young people has its roots in Child to Child. Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative child-led research to ensure that children’s commissioned us to develop a range of voices were heard. The work is effective and sustainable and has resources to prevent children from being already touched the lives of millions of children. voluntarily or forcibly conscripted as soldiers The work must continue to reach out to others. during conflict and enhance their understanding Gerison Lansdown about the risks. We consulted with former International Child Rights Advocate child soldiers in Sierra Leone to inform the & Chair of Child to Child development of these resources. Photo Credits Photo 1: Child to Child 2009 Photo 2: Child to Child 2010 Photo 3: Newstead Children’s Centre, London UK 2013 Photo 4: Child to Child 2009 Photo 5: Child to Child 2014
To learn more about our work go to our website at www.childtochild.org.uk To find out more about how we can work together, please contact [email protected]
Child to Child Institute of Education 20 Bedford Way London WC1H 0AL United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)207 6126649 Fax: +44 (0)207 6126645
Registered charity number: 1152010 Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales: 8442764