International perspectives on the participation of children and young people in the Global South

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a study exploring children’s participation and protection rights. The research was conducted by the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) – a multi-sectoral partnership, involving academic institutions, non-government organisations, and young people in five countries. Although funding came from a Canadian federal agency, partners adopted a decolonial approach to break down inequitable power dynamics. This approach ensured the usage of contextually relevant methods and that children’s voices were heard. This paper reports on findings in Brazil, China, and South Africa, where participatory methodologies were used, to explore how young people and adults conceptualise the experience of ‘participating together.’ Our findings show that there is no single conceptualisation of participation that fits the different contexts where the ICCRP worked. In China, the emphasis is on education and respect for parents’ decisions about their lives; in South Africa, it is on respect and duty to elders and community; while in Brazil, participation relates to ‘protagonism’ where there is a rhetoric of young people’s autonomy in public policy. However, in all cases, intergenerational relations are dynamic and evolve over time. Additionally, individuals who experience meaningful participation in public spaces, change their attitude to participation in the private sphere.