Supporting the Development of Children's Groups and Networks in Afghanistan: Reflections on Practice and Possibilities

In the context of Afghanistan at war during the period of this research from 2002 - 2004, the author Claire O'Kane describes a participatory field work experience with girls and boys to highlight possibilities, to challenge misconceptions, and to reflect upon constraints and challenges for children’s participation. According to the O'Kane, "When given the space and encouragement, girls and boys are generally keen to express their views, to engage with adults in new ways and to take action to improve their own lives, their communities and society."

According to O'Kane, as international agencies opened policy-level conversations in Afghanistan, child protection and participation became an objective. The article focuses on practice developments facilitated by Save the Children [United Kingdom] UK (SCUK) and partners and draws upon reflections and assessments from girls and boys who were involved in children’s groups and networks during that time.

The approach taken was the community-based child protection monitoring and response approach directed toward identifying, analysing and responding to child rights concerns at local, provincial and national levels. "The approach emphasizes: community-based protection work, use of a child protection monitoring tool, involvement of adults and children, awareness raising, and action and advocacy on child right concerns." Linked to the work on community-based protection is the development of children’s groups, networks and media initiatives, part of the Global Movement for Children (GMC) initiative. With respect to cultural considerations, the girls and boys were supported in forming separate groups at the village or district levels. While most of the GMC groups were formed in a school setting with school-going children, many expanded to include working children and children with disabilities from their locality.

SCUK partnered with facilitators from the Department of Education, local community, or a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) to support more than 100 children's groups averaging 15 - 20 children ages 10 -18. Groups held weekly meetings to share views, analyse concerns affecting them and to find solutions and share information in provincial level meetings to undertake joint action and advocacy campaigns. Some of these include: action to stop beating by teachers, preventing police violence, gaining clean water in their schools, mending a bridge, starting first aid boxes, preventing early child marriage, enabling child workers to go to school, and creating libraries in their schools.

The article analyses three key themes (“the 3 P’s”) that are critical for children’s participation, namely: preparation, power and partnerships and draws out key lessons from what helped and what hindered participation.

• Preparation: The author indicates that preparation of adults is the key to children's participation. Parents, teachers, religious leaders, community elders, government officials, media, and police must be prepared to listen to girls and boys, take their views seriously and work with them in new ways. In a country where there is not a culture of children's participation, there must be an ongoing commitment of the development organisation's senior staff and staff training in standards of practice. An ongoing self-assessment process within the children's groups can give child support organisations their next steps in capacity building of adults, including adult-decision makers. The article details the children's assessment of their needs for support from local facilitators.





• Power: "Promoting children’s participation involves challenging entrenched power relations between adults and children." O'Kane describes this as risky. "An awareness of power struggles and an assessment of risk have been key to the development of ethical participatory practices in Afghanistan and has necessitated additional protection measures while working with children and enabling them to voice their concerns." She reports the necessity to cancel national-level events and develop such strategies as using unarmed guards at accommodation sites and meeting venues and storing emergency food supplies in both venues in case of emergency “hibernation” resulting from any local uprisings.
  
  
  However, O'Kane states that children's collective organising enables them to better protect themselves, including prioritising insecurity as a key concern and identifying what issues they can address and what are the most difficult to address. O'Kane suggests that children have successfully negotiated, in some cases, with government officials, school authorities and parents. She notes that as children reflect on power and its effects on their lives, there is the opening for them to reflect on gender differences in power and participation and in the dynamics of different groups suffering discrimination who could be included.





• Partnerships: "In transforming children’s role from passive recipients to active citizens, adults must be willing to develop partnerships with children and young people at a range of levels." Some of her examples are: fledgling partnerships established between teachers and children’s GMC groups in schools to address corporal punishment, between the police and working children’s groups, as well with concerned authorities to address protection issues, including child trafficking. She cites the enhancement of children's participation by access to media: radio and film.
  
  
  She advocates for systematic support for engaging children in decision-making on processes and policies that affect them, including giving them access to the information they need about policies and governance. She urges scaling up and institutionalising children's participation in local governance. She notes that partnerships with district, provincial and central government would enable greater response to the child rights, protection and livelihood issues raised.