You now need to think about who you are going to consult about your Child Protection Policy. Make sure you involve as many people as possible, so that they all have a stake and a say in it. Think about senior management, volunteers, human resources, children and then other people who reflect or represent the different parts of the organisation and its activities. If everyone contributes to the policy, it will be much more effective.
Do not forget to consult the children that your organisation is in contact with. Under international law, children have the right to be consulted in all decisions concerning their lives. Most countries have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to Article 12 of the Convention, children must be asked to give their opinion about all matters affecting them, including in legal and administrative proceedings like a child protection procedure.
Children know a lot about their own lives. Often, decisions are made about children’s lives based on information provided only by adults. Yet adults cannot think, feel and see life as a child does. Adults often make assumptions about what information children are able, or not able, to provide. If adults do not listen to children, the decisions that they make for children may have a negative, rather than a positive, impact. Methods can be designed that make it easy for children to provide information. Information provided by children can be used alongside information provided by adults.
(From: Roots Resource Child Participation, Tearfund 2004: child-participation-e.pdf (tearfund.org))
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