39
Rethinking Youth Participation For Social Development and Community Strengthening
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
son that the Committee on the Rights of the Child identified the right to participation as
one of the guiding principles of the Convention. Participation is an underlying value that
needs to guide the way each individual right is ensured and respected…” (UNICEF, 2013).
Starting to invest on the right to participation since early ages constitutes an important
milestone towards achieving human rights fulfillment in general and proper development
on all levels.
Youth Participation for Community Empowerment
Community strengthening requires the participation of all its members, both adults and
young people. A commonly used definition of youth organisation is, “an innovative youth
development and social justice strategy that trains young people in community organis-
ing and advocacy, and assists them in employing these skills to alter power relations and
create meaningful institutional change in their communities” (Funders’ Collaborative on
Youth Organising [FCYO], 2009 ; cited in Christens & Dolan, 2011: 529). Collaboration
between different age groups is quite beneficial seen from an educational perspective as
well as from a developmental point of view. Building community youth groups and social
organisations can contribute to positive change in many ways, especially if considering
youth development and collaboration between its members for a better environment.
Nonetheless, a lot of current policies all over the world do not seem to support enough
structures within communities in order to facilitate participation and change. “The failure
of current policy to address important quality of life issues for urban youth remains a
substantial barrier to civic participation, educational equity, and healthy adulthood” (Gin-
wright et al., 2006). A major concern resides in the fact that a lot of young people do not
find a lot of possibilities to express themselves in different social settings, such as the
school environment which should be the first institution to promote and support youth
participation.
The lack of access to express their opinions starts in the nucleus of the family and con-
tinues in the school environment. Skivenes & Strandbu (2006: 1-3) argue that for example
children’s capacities to make decisions are somehow not fully developed or encouraged
from their environment. As a result, they depend on parents and also on the state which
takes the decisions for them and decides what is best for them. The authors emphasise
that it is important to consider the child as an active agent, as being and not becoming.
Children are often viewed with a futuristic perceptivity. It is often the case that children
are not considered mature enough like adults to express opinions or take decisions. Their
voices are heard only once they are thought to have reached the state of adulthood. The
same principles apply also to adolescents or young people in general, since they are still
viewed as being still not yet ready for many important decisions. On the other hand, age
