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solidarity, 25 and improves relationships within families and parental support for
children. 26,27 School and the experience of education improve through participation. 28,29,30
The realization of the right to health improves, for example through initiatives such as peer
education and children’s research. 31,32,33 Participation in climate change adaptation enables
the development of a a sense of justice and social responsibility, helping children to “reach
their full potential and develop essential life skills such as problem analysis, decisionmaking,
negotiation and communication, and working in groups. It increases children’s
self-confidence and adult respect for children’s capacities.” 34
However, child participation remains far from systematic. In 2012, shortly after Typhoon
Haiyan in the Philippines, a group of international agencies noted that only adult
priorities had been gathered and acted on the need to speak with children when making
assessments. In 2014, a review of lessons learned from emergency responses in conflict
noted that children are still routinely seen as passive recipients of aid designed by others.
The shortcomings of this traditional approach were highlighted by the fact that children
know much more about their own needs than adults – especially where adults may be
part of the problem.
METHODOLOGY
Children’s perspectives reviewed here are drawn primarily from consultations with children
undertaken by international non-governmental organizations or their partners during
recent emergencies, and in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation work.
There is an identified shortage of consultations during and immediately after situations of
armed conflict but evidence from these situations has been reviewed and cited wherever
possible.
Emergencies with the most consultations are recent: the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2013
Philippines Typhoon, the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the ongoing Syrian
conflict (2011-present). These are supplemented by material from a range of conflicts
including the Central African Republic (2012-present), the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (1994-2003), Afghanistan (2001-present), South Sudan (2013-present), Sierra Leone
(1991-2002), and other emergencies such as floods and food shortages in parts of Asia and
Africa. The disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation work is principally from parts of
Asia and Africa.
The scope of examples available parallels the increasing recognition of the importance
of child participation leading to an increase in the number of consultations held with
children in recent years. International NGOs and their partners have also been involved in
international research on children’s experiences of violence that has necessarily involved
child consultations. 35 Efforts have been made to gather children’s views for the Post-
2015 Development Agenda, and child participation practices have been included in