Towards Rights-Based Child Participation in Governance

The article ‘Towards Rights Based Children's Participation in Governance’ outlines an inspiring capacity building experience at Save the Children in Sri Lanka on child participation with Dhruva, the consultancy wing of the Concerned for Working Children. Staffs have now taken on this new paradigm of working with children in governance which could make a sea-change in Sri Lankan children's ability to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Thank you Dhruva for this wonderful experience! 

Dharshini Seneviratne

Team Leader, Learning and Impact

Save the Children, Sri Lanka

Children grow a forest of their own:

At a meeting of Bhima Sangha, a tiny figure stood up. He looked six years old but turned out to be eight. He began to speak. "We want our own forest (Namma Kadu)", Dinesh said, "and in that forest we, the children of Bhima Sangha will grow bamboo and cane for our parents to make baskets with. We will grow the grass needed for making mats and trees for fuel. We will also grow trees that will attract birds. We will grow the trees necessary for bees to make honey and make a pond for fish and lotuses. The earth dug out to make the pond will be used for building houses and making pots. We will also plant edible and medicinal herbs.

"We will plant this forest ourselves and when this forest has grown we will protect it and use it only for our needs. No trees will be cut, only branches, because a tree takes a long time to grow. After that we will let loose animals that our parents told us used to be in the forests in this area, but only after the trees have grown, or else animals like rabbits will eat the plants before they become trees."

"How will you get the land?", he was asked. "We will ask the Thasildar" he said. "What if he does not give it to you?" "We will ask the District Collector." "What if he refuses as well?" "How can he refuse us? We are Bhima Sangha" "What if he still does?"  "We will sit in his office until he agrees."

The children from different villages had come together to discuss what they could do to help their parents increase the viability of their traditional occupations, so that they themselves could stay on in the village and not be forced to migrate to the cities.  Among the problems that were discussed was the increasing non-availability of raw material, costly production processes and shrinking local markets.

Little Dinesh's remarks were precipitated by this and a recent incident.  He and his friends used to meet and play in a wood near his village, one of the last patches of forest that covered the area from the Kundapura coast to the hills near Shimoga. The children also collected twigs and fallen branches as fuel to cook the evening meal. Soon, they began to use this forest for Bhima Sangha’s classes and meetings. When the local `Yeajaman' (land lord) came to know of this, he prevented them from using this space for fear that they might claim it as their own.

Now Dinesh and his friends have to walk miles to collect fuel every day and for Dinesh this was the epitome of injustice.  His solution was a forest that would be grown by the children and protected and used by the community for their needs.

In preparation for this the children made a list of all the trees the forest should have, the nurseries where they were available and the seasons in which they should be planted. They also learnt how to make natural compost, started growing saplings and began by supplying vegetable seeds and plants to their parents for kitchen gardens.

Dinesh's dream is slowly taking root. Today Namma Kadu is grown in 25 acres in several parts of Udupi district. How the children pulled it through is another story. But, seeing Dinesh at dusk, a tiny figure silhouetted against the dusty road with a load of fire wood larger than himself on his head, but still waving merrily, it is possible to believe that these little children, with their inner strength, tenacity and faith can make things happen.

A young adolescent's  struggle for housing rights:

Vanaja is a mischievous little tomboy who comes from a small village called Kalavara on the foothills of the Western Ghats in India. She was the first girl who graduated from our Appropriate Construction Technology programme – a male dominated profession. Today, she heads a construction group and lives in Kanyana village on her own. She enjoys her work and the freedom it gives her. She is now a proud young woman doing very well in a man's world. Recently she lead an amazing struggle for ‘land for the landless’ and succeeded. Here is how:

When Vanaja was twelve years old, her father was incapacitated and her mother was fighting a losing battle to feed the family. Desperate to learn a skill, she joined the CWC's vocational training programme in Appropriate Construction Technology.

Soon, Vanaja was earning more than the minimum wage for skilled masons. She bought herself a bicycle and looked after the family. She and a few others had built houses on open land belonging to the Gram Panchayat while they waited for their applications for land under ‘land for the landless scheme’ to be processed.

However she ran into trouble in the shape of the Secretary of the Gram Panchayat who did not like her boldness. He proceeded to illegally demolish 18 houses. Vanaja’s was the first to go. But she would not take things lying down. She decided to lead a protest against the action and filed a police complaint. With support from several people and organisations, she and the others who were affected decided to camp in the Panchayat building till their homes were rebuilt.

The Gram Panchayat was forced to rebuild their homes at record speed. Vanaja today is a local heroine at the tender age of 19.

Using information for social transformation:

Prema is a very poised young girl. She lives in a tiny village called Uppunda that nestles between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats in South India. It is a fishing village. Prema and her family belong to a low caste in the social hierarchy. The boys in her family are taught how to fish and the girls and women run the home and do all the menial chores. A primary occupation is the collection of firewood from the forests on the slopes of the foothills. This means waking up at 2 am, walking 10 to 11 kilometers and returning with a head load of firewood by afternoon. 

Prema went to school for a few years but found it impossible. She could not learn anything. Nothing made sense to her. She found no relevance in what was being taught in school to her life. It did not help her to cope with her domestic problems; there was no information on health. It did not help her understand the physical and emotional changes she was experiencing. It did not tell her about reproduction, the protection of her body or childcare.

School did not help her to deal with the forest guards when she went to collect the firewood, or show her ways of coping with her position as a girl from a low caste family in a patriarchal community. Instead, Prema was treated badly in school because of her caste. Finally her teacher told her that she was only good for carrying cow dung and breaking fish heads. She felt humiliated and she left school like many others. After four years of schooling she could barely read the alphabet.  

After her disastrous experience in school, Prema joined Bhima Sangha. She was able to share her problems and frustrations and gain great strength from knowing that there were others like her. Collectively they began to find solutions to the problems they faced and Prema’s self confidence grew.

Prema was elected to the ‘Makkala Panchayat’ or children’s local government in her village and she became the President. At this time all the children decided that they needed more information about the causes of child labour and the resources available in their communities if they were to influence their local governments to take corrective action. They decided to do a house-to-house survey in 12000 households and asked the Concerned for Working Children (CWC) for help to design this piece of research. Prema supervised the survey in her cluster of villages. 

During this process Prema had to interview her old teacher and his family. She was also the one to present the findings to the adult ‘Panchayat’ and argue the demands made by the children, her electorate. She managed to get all the demands accepted and many of them have been effectively addressed such as the implementation of a more appropriate and quality education, full day child care centres, easy access to fuel, fodder and water, the construction of foot bridges and more freedom for girls.

Her moment of glory came when her old teacher stood up in a ‘Panchayat’ meeting and honoured her. He was amazed at her capacity to handle the complexity of the survey and her presentation skills. He apologised for what he had said when she was in school and praised her intelligence and leadership qualities.

Prema is now a respected and proud member of her community. She not only reads and writes, but also represents her constituency in national and international meetings. She has travelled to many countries. Recently she made a big impression on the children of Japan who have as a result initiated a Children’s Rights Movement in Japan. Prema now stands tall. Her dream is to become the president of the local government – a dream that is more than likely to come true.

A wise king's justice - Children use traditional folk media to make local governments accountable:

Praveen Kumar is a member of Namma Sabha. He has been the former president of Bhima Sangha’s State Committee. After studying up to class three, Praveen had to leave school because of the difficulties at home. Then he got into a hotel and worked there for two years. There, Praveen had to work very long hours and was paid very low wages. After that he was made to live with some family members and to attend school under their care. But he had to go to school while doing a lot of hard work – cooking, taking care of the cattle and agricultural.

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