Global Action Center: Resolution Based Advocacy


"Children have the right to express their views and to participate in decisions that affect their lives,"said UNICEF Representative Leila Gharagozolo Pakkala."They have ideas, experience and insights that enrich our understanding of the world and the problems we face."

"We, as young people, need to be proactive and engage the government and international organizations on issues affecting us. Involvement of young people at various levels of programming is vital for the success of a program."
Male youth, Angola



Resolution on Childhood Participation
www.acei.org/07resolutions.htm

Issue in Brief
Children can be powerful and influential partners in creating, maintaining, and implementing advocacy programs to help other children, while at the same time, learning positive life experiences that contribute to their growth and development. As stated by renowned American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner, "It is not only what the community does for the child that contributes to his development. Of equal if not greater importance is what he does for that community-quite modestly at first, but gradually at increasing levels of responsibility . . . It is in part the enforced inutility of children in our society that works to produce feelings of alienation, indifference, and antagonism. Learning early in life the skills and rewards of service to one's community brings with it the benefits of a more stable and gratifying self-identity." (1970, p. 156)

ACEI Resources

Childhood Education articles

Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children,
Vol. 83, No. 4, p. 199-205
http://www.acei.org/kidspeakforkids.htm

UNICEF Resources

Voices of Youth is an interactive Internet site created by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for young people who want to know more, do more, and say more about the world. It links children and adolescents in different countries, and provides opportunities to explore, speak out, and take action on global issues that are important to them and to creating a world fit for children.
http://www.unicef.org/voy/index.php

J8 Summit
The Junior 8 Summit is the youth parallel event to the G8 Summit, which since 2005 gives children and young people the opportunity to articulate and present their opinions and views, concerns and recommendations on these and other important issues and problems affecting them and require future action from G8 leaders.
http://www.j8summit.com/

On the Day of the African Child, UNICEF highlights the importance of child participation.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_44456.html

The Machel Study 10 Year Strategic Review
"Will you Listen?" The review features young voices from combat zones.
http://www.unicef.org/voy/media/Will_You_Listen_090607.pdf

NGO Committee on the Working Group for Girls
The Working Group on Girls (WGG) and its International Network for Girls (INfG) are dedicated to promoting the rights of girls in all areas and stages of their lives, advancing the rights and status of girls, assisting them to develop their full potential, and promoting the active participation of girls as agents of change in their own lives, families, communities and societies.
http://girlsrights.org/Default.php

You Tube

UNICEF: Malaysian teen holds aquathon for Myanmar relief (You Tube video, 2 min. 3 sec.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpOWoENCtmQ&feature=user

Other Resources

Free The Children is a large network of children helping children through education in the world. Their Adopt-a-Village program initiates and supports community development for marginalized children and their families by meeting their basic human needs. Schools can also build Health Kits, which contain essentials for children's health and school needs.
http://www.freethechildren.com/index.php

Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) is an organization that facilitates youth participation, supports collaboration among diverse youth organizations, and provides tools, resources, and recognition for positive youth action.
http://www.youthlink.org/gyanv5/index.htm

NetAid educates, inspires, and empowers new generations of young people to fight global poverty throughout their lives. NetAid is creating a movement of informed youth-tomorrow's leaders and voters-who understand the root causes of global poverty and are committed to ending it.
http://www.netaid.org/

One World Youth Project is a sister-school program for middle and high school students, linking groups in the United States and Canada with groups from around the globe to work together toward the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
http://www.oneworldyouthproject.org/index.html

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