The Children’s Institute supports children’s participation in law reform and research. Children and young people in South Africa have a broad array of political rights, but these are not always respected in practice. While it is becoming more common for children to be invited into formal policy consultations, often these processes are tokenistic. Academic literature on activism and social movements often overlooks the contributions of children themselves to social and environmental justice. A few studies are beginning to provide insights into how children and young people are redefining what citizenship means by engaging in activism in Europe, Latin America and Asia; however, children’s activism in Africa remains underresearched.
Our work within this thematic area includes:
- Developing approaches to strengthen child activist campaigns
- Supporting children and youth to participate in law and policy reform that affects them
- Capacitating adults to work collaboratively with children
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