The end of paternalism? Child beneficiary participation and project effectiveness

This paper originally developed as a Masters' thesis investigates the relationship between child beneficiary participation and project effectiveness. It is argued that beneficiary participation in decision-making is now part of development consensus, but not if the beneficiaries are children: whilst children's participation is at the centre of many campaigns for children's rights, it has not been central to the promotion of children's provision or protection.
An evaluation is undertaken of the important information that beneficiaries have and professionals lack, where beneficiaries are competent compared to officials; and how beneficiaries are reliable compared to professionals. From this, findings emerge that projects involving child beneficiaries have had considerable success, but not without difficulties. These include relating success to participatory methodology, and problems in data collection. Overall, it is recommended that the participation of child beneficiaries in project decision-making should be made a priority given that it appears to enhance their self-esteem and improve the effectiveness of measures for provision and protection.