Children's Voices Drive Change in Hunger, Climate, and Inequality Policy

Children are not future leaders. They are leaders today.Across nutrition dialogues, climate discussions, advocacy initiatives and digital spaces, I am continually inspired by the insights, courage and solutions children bring. Their experiences are not anecdotes. They are evidence that should help shape decisions, policies and action.Meaningful participation is not only about giving children a voice. It is about ensuring their views influence decisions and that they hear back about what changed as a result. “Nothing about us, without us. #ChildLedAdvocacy #ChildrenForChange #VoicesOfChildren #EndChildHunger #ENOUGH #MeaningfulParticipation

What does it mean to support children's growing rights? A recent UNICEF Innocenti report, Growing with Rights, explores a question that sits at the heart of children's rights practice: how do we recognise and support children's evolving capacities as they grow? The report argues that children's development, protection and participation should not be viewed as competing priorities. Rather, they are interconnected dimensions of children's rights that require careful balancing by policymakers, practitioners, families and communities. In Jersey, this feels particularly relevant. Across our work, children and young people consistently tell us that they want to be listened to, taken seriously, and involved in decisions that affect their lives. Whether discussing education, wellbeing, digital experiences, public services or wider policy decisions, the challenge is often not whether children have views – it is whether adults create the conditions for those views to influence outcomes. The report also raises important questions about children's lives in the digital environment. How do we protect children from harm while also respecting their rights to information, participation and expression? How do we ensure that protective measures do not unintentionally restrict children's agency? These are questions every jurisdiction, including Jersey, is grappling with right now. Perhaps most importantly, though, Growing with Rights reminds us that children's capacities do not develop in isolation. Poverty, inequality, discrimination and adversity all shape children's opportunities to participate and thrive. A rights-based approach therefore requires us to look beyond individual children and consider the systems and environments in which they are growing up. For those working with and for children in Jersey, the report prompts genuinely productive reflection with certain key (and timely) questions: Are we creating genuine opportunities for children to influence decisions? Do our policies balance protection with participation? Are we recognising children as rights-holders today, rather than citizens-in-waiting? How well are we responding to children's experiences of growing up in an increasingly digital world? These are conversations we need to have. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dnne9e42 #ChildrensRights #UNCRC #JerseyCI #Participation #RightToBeHeard #ChildFriendlyGovernance #GrowingWithRights Carmel Corrigan UNICEF UK

One thing I appreciate about this is that it shows Agenda 2063 is not just a document for governments. Whether you’re working on girls’ education, women’s rights, youth development, health, or governance, the aspirations in Agenda 2063 provide a common direction for advocacy across Africa. Too often, we advocate for change without referring to the commitments our governments have already made. Knowing these commitments helps us ask better questions, and make stronger recommendations. The more civil society organizations understand Agenda 2063, the more effectively they can use it to support their work. #TheAfricanWeWant #Agenda2063

Agenda 2063 sets out 7️⃣ aspirations for #TheAfricaWeWant. Across the continent, civil society organizations are already using them to hold governments and institutions accountable. An #education organization tracking investment in higher education. A women's rights organization monitoring how countries respond to gender-based violence. A #youth organization working to keep girls in school. Different priorities, one shared framework. This graphic breaks down all seven aspirations and shows a real example of advocacy for each one, drawn from ECOSOCC's Conduct of Advocacy Toolkit. Which aspiration best aligns with your organization's work?! Read and download African Union ECOSOCC's Conduct of Advocacy toolkit: https://lnkd.in/dRbssqAn #Agenda2063 #TheVoiceOfTheAfricanCitizenry #EndGBV

I'm a little late in sharing this reflection, but perhaps that's fitting—because the Day of the African Child shouldn't be confined to just one day on the calendar. This year's theme, "Planning and Budgeting for Children's Rights: Progress Since 2010," reminds us that children's wellbeing depends on the choices we make every day. While access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) remains a critical priority across many communities, the broader message is that every child deserves an environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive with dignity. As we continue our work in child participation and advocacy, may we keep listening to children, investing in their futures, and ensuring that their voices are reflected in the decisions that shape their lives. Let's make children's rights a daily commitment—not just an annual conversation. #DayOfTheAfricanChild #ChildRights #ChildParticipation #WASH #Africa #ChildrenFirst.. African Union, UNICEF, THE YOUTH PARLIAMENT OF KENYA (YPK), State Department for Children Services, NTV

Children are often described as beneficiaries of development programmes. But children can be more than recipients of support. They can be participants in the decisions that shape their lives. This thinking was central to the Amplifying Children’s Voice for Child Rights Project. The project supported girls and boys, including children with disabilities, to understand their rights, develop advocacy skills, build confidence, and engage with decision-makers on issues affecting them. Through child-led structures and safe spaces for participation, children and young people were given opportunities to express their views and contribute to discussions at community and government levels. The approach recognised an important distinction: protecting children’s rights includes creating meaningful opportunities for children themselves to understand, exercise, and advocate for those rights. Implemented by Keepers Zambia Foundation (KZF), with support from Save the Children International and funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the project has since concluded, but the principle behind it remains relevant. Children should not only benefit from decisions made about their future. Where appropriate, they should have a voice in shaping them. Learn more about the project: https://shorturl.at/fhU2B

As a woman global patient advocate living with a rare bleeding disorder-Factor Seven Deficiency, this celebration of women advocates and leaders in the bleeding disorders community worldwide gives me HOPE! In the lives of countless women and girls around the world, we have been told repeatedly we do not bleed abnormally and we do not have hemophilia, I say thank you to these women advocates and leaders with Paxton Mills whom are proof we will no longer live unheard, unseen or properly partnered with for care. We do indeed live with bleeding disorders and we have insights and solutions to improve care and comprehensive treatment for our conditions. We will absolutely chart a new course in healthcare, program and policy development also research and clinical trials where we will participate fully in how our care is developed, designed and implemented. Gone are the days where we no longer have agency over our minds, bodies and treatment as women living with bleeding and blood disorders. Therefore, let’s celebrate Paxton and her peers from around the world for being the continuation of (agents of change) for women and girls like Susan Skinner! These ladies are our “now” and future leaders. With that said, let’s never forget the trailblazers that cleared the path with this work. Here is a list of women advocates and leaders in the blood and bleeding disorders community that started this journey. We will not forget their names and contributions to women and girls living with bleeding and blood disorders : Winifred Mayer Ashby, Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, Judith Graham Pool, Lucy Brice, Majorie Bick, Ruth Sanger, Dr. Dorothea Zucker Franklin, Lucy Wills, Dr. Clarice Reid, Dr. Helen Ranney, Eloise “Elo” Giblett, Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston, Dr. Jane F. DesForges, Roshni Kulkarni, Dawn Rotellini, Ayana Woods, Sonia Roger, Susan Lerch, Jeanne White-Ginder, Blanca Ramirez, Barb Forss , Megan Adediran , Meera Chitlur, Suzi Cannon ,Sharon Meyers, Ed.D., CFRE , Krishna Cannon , Sophia Minhas ,Dr. Anna Bell, Cathy Tiggs MSSA, LISW , Jane Cavanaugh Smith , Jennifer DeGlopper , G Shellye Horowitz , Johnson, Murai , Danielle Nance , Dr. Ming Y Lim, Kerry Bozza Funkhouser , and Keri Norris PhD JM MPH MCHES. Please add to this collection of women in the comments only if the lady has had a major role in improving the care of women and girls living with bleeding disorders in your country. We must encourage the awareness of the importance of the work taking place around globe for and with us and our legacies in women’s healthcare in bleeding disorders. Ladies, we must stay vigilant in ensuring and leading the way. We educate, elevate and create optimal women’s bleeding disorders care. 🎉🎉🎉

This week in New York, governments are reviewing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. 🌐 The Secretariat of Solidarity-CMI and FMSI are contributing with an official written statement to the UN Economic and Social Council — and every word of it is rooted in what children themselves have said. 🤝 Over the past years, the Secretariat of Solidarity-CMI and FMSI have engaged in consultations with children and young people across the Marist world.  Their experiences, concerns and proposals shaped the statement's three calls to action: adequate and sustained financing for education, mental health as a development priority, and climate justice for children and their communities. Children are not future beneficiaries of the 2030 Agenda. They are rights-holders whose priorities must shape global decisions — today. 📣 Read the full statement at page 48: https://lnkd.in/d-VJyuwf #SDGs #sustainabledevelopmentgoals #advocacy

Our Kadus Group team along with sub-consultant partners Fotenn Planning + Design and Linebox Studio are proud to be working with our client Harmony House Shelter and Executive Director Marilyn Matheson, CAE on the feasibility study and solutions to increase available housing for women and their children fleeing violence. The study is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The demand for emergency, transitional and stable housing with wrap-around services are all increasing and we must move to act. To Federal, Provincial and Municipal sector colleagues: There is a major gap for capital funding for these projects. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Société canadienne d'hypothèques et de logement(SCHL) Build Canada Homes | Maisons Canada Building Ontario Fund Alison Stirling Melissa Reeves Lindsey Suprunchuk Francesca Davila Saide Sayah Justin George

Power Community Limited has reached a significant milestone in its commitment to preventing gender-based violence, with 25,000 young people now educated through its Power to End Violence Against Women and Empowered programs 🙌