In June 13, 2018, CIESPI welcomed seven young people from the industrial city of Volta Redonda, R.J., to its offices to listen to their experiences as young activists. The young people were accompanied by Guaraciara Lopes (‘Guará’), a one-time president of the Children’s Rights Council of Volta Redonda, and also welcomed some members of the Forum of Rio Youth in Action. This listening session is part of an international project, the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership, which is carrying out a study on monitoring the participation of children and youth in public places for the guarantee of children’s rights in a number of countries.
The meeting in Rio was the culmination of a number of visits to the young people in their home city as part of the Brazil case study. Since 2012 that municipality has guaranteed two seats for young people in the federally mandated Children’s Rights Council who are in turn elected by the Forum of South-Fluminense Youth in Action. The Children’s Rights Councils which exist at the federal, state, and municipal levels in Brazil are mandated to set policies for their localities and review the children’ budgets. Young people’s representation on the Councils are now mandated by the National Council on Children’s Rights.
The young people had a strong sense not just of their rights to be protected but also of their rights to participate in public debates. Initially they experienced many attempts to silence their voices, stories the young people related with gallows humor. But they were proud of their gradual acceptance including participation in Volta Redonda’s official Plan for Children where they recounted a large number of floor fights on particular provisions. The young people in the Plan debates stressed the importance of the need for attention to sexual abuse and bullying. They were, however, dismayed when after the murder of a young person, the mayor called a meeting to discuss the incident and did not invite the youth members of the Rights Council. Several of the youth recounted their parents’ reactions to their participation which ranged from support to fear about negative consequences. One parent said in amazement: ‘where did you learn about human rights?’.
The three-year international project aims not only to research youth participation but to report on how to promote it in accordance with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Different case studies on young people´s participation are being conducted in Canada, South Africa and China. The initiative involves partners from Ryerson University, McGill University e Canada International Institute for Child Rights and Development (Canada); University of Edinburgh, Scotland; University of Cape Town, South Africa and Right to Play International in China.