We are pleased to share a Special Report by Misean Cara Learning & Development Officer Harry Shier about his recent participation in the UNICEF International Expert Group on Adolescent Participation in New York, USA.
Between childhood and adulthood is the time we call adolescence, and, while it is all too easy to think of this as a “period of transition.” It is important to think of adolescents as citizens of today, and not just as those in the waiting room hoping to become citizens of tomorrow. As citizens, adolescents have a full range of human rights, including the right to participate, to speak out and be heard in decision-making that affect their lives.
In January, I was privileged to represent Misean Cara at the inaugural meeting of the International Expert Group on Adolescent Participation convened by UNICEF at their New York headquarters to address this very problem. Over two days of intensive workshops, we sought to lay the foundations for a reconceptualization of adolescent participation.
I gave a presentation on what seems to me to be some of the key aspects we need to take into account (based on my own experience of working with children and adolescents on Nicaraguan coffee plantations before I joined Misean Cara):
Since 2016, UNICEF has been working to develop what they call the “Adolescent Country Tracker Tool,” a globally valid framework of universal indicators that will enable all countries to track the rights and wellbeing of adolescents within their territory, as a stimulus to improving rights-based policies and programmes for adolescents throughout the world.
The Adolescent Country Tracker identifies five domains of adolescent life:
1. Health and wellbeing;
2. Education and Learning;
3. Protection;
4. Transition to work; and
5. Participation and Engagement.
It then aims to establish five universally valid indicators for measuring progress in each one. Although draft indicators are in place for the first four domains, when they came to look at “Participation and Engagement,” they found that there was no widely recognised or globally valid conceptual framework for adolescent participation, so there was no basis on which to draw up indicators.
After hearing a number of expert presentations on the first day, the second day was given over to working in smaller groups to try to identify the essential elements of the new framework under construction. As a bridge between the two sessions, I took all the participants on a trip through a time portal that allowed them to visit a parallel future world where adoles¬cent engagement and participation had been fully realised. While there they were able to travel around and observe many aspects of life in that world, before the portal closed and they returned home to our own world, where they discussed and reflected on their experiences.
We are still waiting for the final report of the meeting, but if you are interested in this topic, do drop me a line and I can share more information and also the report when it comes through. Email Harry Shier at hshier@miseancara.ie
As for the future, the group will continue to meet virtually through internet conferencing, and I will continue to represent Misean Cara as the work goes forward, until the Adolescent County Tracker is completed.
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