Professor Irene Rizzini of the Department of Social Services at PUC-Rio and director of CIESPI/PUC Rio has just launched this podcast. The work is supported by Capes-Print in its internationalization program and monitors processes of child participation in international policies and programs. The series discusses how children and youth participate in policies and programs of child protection with a special focus on Latin America. The project has as an important partner the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP), coordinated by professor Tara Collins (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada), with the support of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.  

This podcast project was created and implemented by Carolina Terra, a researcher at CIESPI and a doctoral student at the Department of Social Work at PUC-Rio. 

Made up of 5 episodes of about 15 minutes each, this initiative draws on theoretical and practical experiences of mobilization, presenting the experiences of young people and researchers from Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, South Africa and Canada. The content is available in Portuguese, Spanish and English with subtisles (available by clicking on the ‘CC’,Closed Captions, button on YouTube), reinforcing the importance of diverse voices in the construction of policies and programs aimed at the rights of children and youth. 

Episode 1: the experience of Volta Redonda

This first episode presented by Carolina Terra, researcher at PUC-Rio, describes the experiences in Volta Redonda an industrial city in the south of the State of Rio de Janeiro where the Municipal Council on the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent officially includes young people as counselors with the right to speak and to vote, a rare occurrence in municipal children’s rights councils in Brazil. 

Professor Rizzini explains the importance of this initiative, pointing out how the effective participation of children and youth strengthens public policies. Two young people that are part of the project team contribute to the discussion, reflecting about their learnings as young counselors in Volta Redonda. They are Lucas Almeida, a Master’s student in Public Administration, who knowledgeably describes the local experiences because of his participation in the Children’s Rights Council and the Youth Forum of South Fluminense in Action.  He is accompanied by the law student Gustavo Gomes also an activist n the same Forum. These two share their vision about youth engagement in the defense of children and youth rights. 

Strengthening international partnerships and dialogue

In addition to describing local experiences, the podcast Voices of Children and Youth, seeks to enlarge the international dialogue on promoting the participation of children and youth in decision making spaces. The series touches on such themes as rights, education, inclusion and protagonism encouraging international collaboration and reinforcing the importance of and actively involving the rising generation in the processes which impact their lives. 

The next episodes will be available shortly. Follow CIESPI’s social networks for more information. 

This project is made possible with the support of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education-Brazil (CAPES)-Financial code 001, through PRINT, Theme: Governance and Public Policies.