Benefits of Child Participation: Field Notes
A child’s right to participation is connected to fulfilling the right to information, a prerequisite for participation to be relevant and meaningful. When children are provided with the necessary information about their options, and the consequences of the choices, it enables informed decision-making and also helps them gain skills, confidence, and maturity to express their views. The principle of child participation not only allows the child an opportunity to speak but also makes it obligatory for the adults to listen. Hence, child participation is the child’s right to speak as well as to be heard.
This document is an effort by Prerana to share the benefits of child participation as understood, observed, and implemented in its field interventions.