How to Engage Street Children To Talk about Children's Rights

I wrote a blog post on this child right and children's participation topic some time ago but I have wanted to link it again now the Durban Declaration has been published, the build up to the next street child cup is underway and to add a few more resources that have been published since this time.

In March 2010, street children from around the world were welcomed to Durban, South Africa to compete in the first ever Street Child World Cup. Children from nine countries came together to find their voices through the global language of a game they love. Teams worked with specialist coaches to express themselves on the football pitch and with artists who enabled them to tell their stories. The Street Child World Cup placed street children centre stage, celebrating their potential and providing a platform for them to talk about the issues that matter most to them. Through a process led by the children themselves, the Deloitte Street Child World Cup began the process of forming a global Street Child Manifesto.  Together, they called for street children’s rights to a full, healthy, dignified life, as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to be upheld.

The manifesto which has become, The Durban Declaration, can be downloaded by clicking this link. You will aslo find on this site news about the activities and run up tot he 2014 SCWC.

As I was the lead facilitator for the conference, I wanted to make generally available ideas about the specific activities we used and on how this process worked. You can download the conference briefing notes here.

During the conference I was very pleased to work with two amazing colleagues from Plan international who did specific sessions with the girls. Here isa film  that includes Plans work at the street child world cup

For further resources on stimulating discussion and working with children you may find the last section in this toolkit useful. It is something I developed with staff and partners of the Jacobs Foundation and is free to download here. Click for the toolkit under the heading intervention and application.