Introduction:
In a groundbreaking move,the Uttarakhand government marked Children's Day (Nov. 14) with a workshop during which senior state government officials sat down with children, many from remote and rural parts of the state, and listened to their ideas for a child policy for the state.

This was no usual meeting in which the adults droned on as the children listened passively. In this unique consultation spearheaded by Uttarakhand's department of Women Empowerment and Child Development, 89 children from around the state sat at tables with officials representing government departments ranging from education to forestry to village self governance (panchayati raj). Though many of the adults participating in the event may have started out thinking that they would lead the discussion and inform the children, they found the young people to be active participants in the discussion, keen to share their experiences and express their views.

The young participants represented 20 MCF partner organizations as well as the Dehradun Kishori Sang, an adolescent girls program of the Uttarakhand government, and Karuna Vihar, a program for disabled children. The workshop was hosted and conducted by the Bal Kalyan Parishad, a semi-autonomous government board dedicated to the development and support of a child policy for the state, and the Integrated Child Development Team in the state Ministry for Women Empowerment and Child Development.The MCF and our partners played a major role in planning and participating in this event.

Prior to the workshop, young people around the state had already started a discussion on child policy, through village level meetings and leading up to the MCF's Child Rights and Policy workshop in May 2006, which served as a catalyst for this event.

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Day 1 - Policy Discussions

The workshop began with a ceremonial lighting of the lamp and an introduction to the purpose of the workshop, followed by a policy discussion in which the children were divided up among several tables, each representing a government department.

Though all the tables had lively discussions, the education table was quickly surrounded by children who would leave their own tables to offer their suggestions and complaints to the education representatives, who dutifully noted them down.

During some of the discussions (and as usually happens in such situations) the adults tended to take over the conversation with their ideas rather than those of the children. But at tables with a number of MCF members, especially those kids who had participated in previous workshops, the pattern was different - these young people quickly persuaded the adults to look at things from their perspective and held their own in the policy discussions.

"You could tell which children had attended other MCF workshops and meetings," said Sudhir Bhatt, the MCF's lead facilitator. "They have a whole different level of self confidence that impressed even the government officials with whom they were speaking."

Following the roundtable discussions, the children from each table (accompanied by the government officials from that department) shared with the rest of the participants the issues they had discussed and the conclusions they had reached with regard to that department's role in the state's child policy and support of children.

The conference was remarkable for the participation of high-level government officials, including Chief Secretary S.K. Das, the senior most administrative official in the state and the first day's work concluded with Mr. Das and Ms. Radha Raturi, director department of Women Empowerment and Child Development, addressing the group on the importance of including children at all levels of their work.

From Left to Right: Ms Hemlata Dhondiyal Addl. Secretary, Women Empowerment and Child Development; Mr. S. K. Das, Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand; Ms. Radha Raturi, Secretary, Women's Empowerment and Child Development Ministry; Dr. R.C. Arya, Director General Health Uttarakhand; Cyril R. Raphael, Secretary SBMA and MCF Patron.

Day 2 - Meeting the Press and Tea with the Governor

The second day of the workshop began with a meeting between the children and the Dehradun Press Corps, during which the children had the opportunity to speak directly with journalists about a range of issues from the types of stories covered by the media to what the children themselves hope to achieve.

The children expressed frustration that the press only seemed to cover sensational, negative stories instead of focusing on the positive. This provided the journalists an opportunity to explain to the children the factors that influenced their coverage and the young people took the opportunity to urge the journalists to consider children as active participants and stakeholders in their communities.

That afternoon, the young people visited the Governor's House for tea. In a society where the young people rarely dare to speak up even to their village elders, the opportunity to meet and interact with the Governor of the state creates a dramatic paradigm shift for the children, who return to their communities with renewed confidence and determination to participate.

Conclusion:

This remarkable meeting marked a revolution in the Uttarakhand government's approach to children. Instead of just talking at them and about them, government officials spoke to the children, and even more important, listened to them.

It is the first time government officials from across so many departments have met with children from across the state and representing the diversity of the state's population. We congratulate the Uttarakhand leadership for taking the initiative to bring young people to the table and hope this will serve as an example to governments around the world.

During the workshop, the MCF and our partners proposed that government departments consider involving the village-level children's groups into their programs, especially in a monitoring or supporting role. The suggestion was well received and we are hoping to see it reflected in policy.

Download a more detailed report of the workshop (MS Word).

 Read about our May 2006 child policy workshop which inspired this event.

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Partners

The MCF is the sum of its partners (plus a little magical synergy). This workshop would not have been possible without the active participation of the following organizations:

Almora
SUDHA
Udai Kairola

Chamoli
SBMA/Plan Gairsain
SIMAR
Jakeshwar Shikshan Sansthan

Champawat
Kagas

Dehradun
Horawalla MCF Chapter*
ADP Jagriti
Badripur
Samta
Karuna Vihar

Nainital
Vimarsh
Saral
Evergreen Youth
CHIRAG

Uttarkashi
SBMA/Plan Uttarkashi

Pithoragarh
ARPAN

Rudraprayag
GRASS

Tehri
Grameen Kshetriya Vikas Samiti
Mount Valley
SBMA

Udham Singh Nagar
Kagas
Kumaon Seva Samiti

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