I have a close relationship with the organization which made this film that is Concerned for Working Children (CWC), for the last several years since my visit to Karnataka as a part of my Regional Study on Children & Citizenship. CWC has been working on the issues of working children especially on their right to participation for the last 25 years. It is an organization which was able to facilitate one of the most powerful working children’s organization in India namely Bhima Sangha, which has 13,000 members throughout India at present. CWC believes in meaningful participation of children in decision making and was able to facilitate the creation of practical arenas for children to participate. Task forces at various levels on child labour and Makkala Panchayats (Children’s Local Government bodies) are some but few to name. In those structures children affectively participate and have constructive interactions with adults in order to influence the decisions which have a direct impact on their lives. For the last several years CWC has got proven capabilities in this field and therefore they are fully equipped with the knowledge and experience to talk on the subject authoritatively for the benefit of others who are interested in this field.

‘Citizens Today’ starts with a brief account of Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its importance in the array of children’s human rights. Through the narratives of experienced child rights activists such as Nandana Reddy, it provides the viewer the new dimension of the CRC, the participation of children in decision making. Children are no more the passive recipients of the provisions and protection guaranteed by CRC but active participants in determine the quality and nature of those provisions and services. In order to make this happen, there are some conditions to be fulfilled. A great deal of responsibility in fulfilling those conditions is lying with adults. Firstly, they should be prepared to accept children in those structures predominantly controlled by them and share the responsibility of making decisions with children. This film very clearly depicts the responsibilities adults have in making effective children’s participation. One way they have to facilitate the formation of children’s organizations where children could experience the collective power and on the other hand spaces and arenas should be negotiated for children to participate in structures where decisions are made. It also discusses the ethical issues of children’s participation such as manipulation by adults.

‘Citizens today’ shows us some of the very interesting events, which could be sited as successful examples of children’s participation. The first International meeting of working children in Karnataka, ILO conference organized by the Government of Netherlands in Amsterdam in 1997 and the activities of Bhima Sanga and Makkala Panchayats in India are some of those events. It also shows the life stories of child activists such as Vanaja who have changed their destiny by using the competence gained through children’s organizations. The Director of the film successfully established the arguments for children’s participation through several colorful examples and strongly proved her case to win the jury i.e. the viewer to make the judgment in support of her case. The film is very rich in photography, sounds, mixing and editing and in all other technical aspects.

‘Citizens today’ challenges the traditional view of children’s passive role in the society and strongly influence the viewer to explore his/her own attitudes towards children’s participation and support the cause unconditionally. In a world where children’s potentials are undermining and their contributions for the development of the society are not valued, ‘Citizen today’ is a very timely and appropriate intervention to challenge these negative perceptions of adults. It gives a very strong message to each and every one of the viewer that children are ‘Citizens today’ not tomorrow. As practitioners we always work for children’s greater participation but this film provide us a different dimension to the participation arena and gives us a greater confidence on the achievements we could make at the end of our efforts. Simply it makes us re-committed for the cause of children’s participation rights.

I thank everyone who contributed for the production of this film, especially children and wish them all the best for their future endeavors.