Resources

This book focuses on civil society's role in international policy debates and global problem solving. Increased citizen action over the last 10 years has enabled citizens groups to be a major force in nonstate participation in the global system. Against this background, case studies from a number of movements and NGO networks are presented, including: campaigns to reform the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; the Jubilee 2000 Campaign, the movement against Free Trade, the Landmine Campaign as well as several other human rights, social justice and environmental movements. The book finishes with a section on lessons learned and challenges for the future. A synopsis of the book and abstracts of each section can be viewed at http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/particip/research/citizen/globcitact.pdf

A 1995 study in Zimbabwe of Harare's urban population revealed that 10% of the city's population were living in informal settlements. Labelled as temporary by the government, these settlements lack investment in social services, housing, health care, education provision, waste disposal and water and sanitation facilities. Concern over the children in the communities of these settlements prompted Save the Children UK and a local partner organization, Inter Country People's Aid, to carry out a situation analysis in two settlements. The results of this analysis led onto a new research project involving participation where the researchers were the children themselves. The article outlines some of the findings as well as problems encountered by the project, such as parents and confidentiality. It includes illustrations by children and has a detailed conclusion which includes issues such as how to involve children in genuine and meaningful debate, overcoming reluctance by younger children to participate in mixed age group sessions and the need for methodologies to be stimulating and interactive.

This paper seeks to suggest certain principles of good governance for children, drawing on examples of local city governments from around the world that have addressed childrens needs in new ways. It does not focus on what was done in these cases, but rather the principles behind these actions that can be transferred from city to city. The paper examines the responsibility of different authorities and service providers towards children, and the importance of defining these responsibilities and integrating them into public agencies agendas. It looks at definitions of good governance and the evaluation of the quality of the relationship between government institutions and civil society. It proposes that good governance for children means ensuring a web of local institutions that warrant service provision, protection and participation of children. This includes making sure that children feel that their views and needs are taken seriously. The role of local government is examined, and innovative initiatives for involving children in local governance are analysed. The discussion leads up to conclusions on how to create incentives for local action and developing a local plan. Factors facilitating the process are proposed such as national constitutions that support rights-based approaches; bottom-up democratic pressure; decentralisation; national legislation; national government commitment for support; international human rights conventions; and top-down democratic safe-guards for political rights and support for local democracy. The paper also focuses especially on the importance of information systems; training for those who deal with children; learning from othersÆ experiences; integrating support of children in all areas of governance; and cities working for and with parents. Text boxes are included through the paper, presenting and analysing different examples of city governance involving children (e.g. PRODEL in Nicaragua and the Childrens Participatory Budget Council in Barra Mansa, Brazil).