Background 

A child’s right to participation is one of the basic rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Article 12 of the UNCRC establishes the right of every child to freely express her or his views in all matters affecting her or him, and the subsequent right for those views to be given due weight, according to the child’s age and maturity.

Children’s right to be heard is interrelated to their enjoyment of rights to protection and development. Children and young people have first-hand experience of the hardships and challenges they face in their communities. Understanding children’s views and experiences are essential to devising an effective strategy for their protection and development. Furthermore, children’s participation goes beyond helping solves problems that affect them directly and expands out to numerous issues that affect their communities and societies.

Plan International Hong Kong believes that children and young people hold the key to providing specialised knowledge and innovative approaches to bringing about changes in their communities and improving overall society. The Voice of the Children demonstrates a child-centred model of community development – from raising awareness of children’s rights to identifying problems and building consensus with peers and other stakeholders, advocating for the government and those involved to take responsibility for bringing about positive change in the community.

Our Actions

“Many decisions in the community are made by adults,
but children are also part of that community.
Through ‘Voice of the Children’, I have the chance to
share my opinions about society and the community.”
— Participant, Voice of the Children

Programme Overview

Since 2018, Plan International Hong Kong has been running the “Voice of the Children” programme to promote meaningful child participation in community development and empower children to become active agents of positive social change. The programme has been implemented in three successive phases, enabling us to gain valuable local experience while gradually expanding the programme into new districts.

Programme Framework 

To align with the local context and culture, Plan International developed the “5-Stage Model – Child Participatory Community Development” as the project framework. In Phase III, based on our practical experience, we have adjusted the framework to “4-Stage Programme Cycle for Child Participatory Community Development”. 

• Stage 0: Introducing children to the project and raising their awareness of their rights
• Stage 1: Exploring community issues
• Stage 2: Planning community actions
• Stage 3: Executing community actions
• Stage 4: Sharing achievements through advocacy and community education

We believe that children and youth are active agents of change, and by nurturing children to be voices of their own groups, we can bring about positive and lasting transformation for the community.

How The Programme Has Evolved throughout The Years

In June 2018, Plan International Hong Kong initiated “Voice of the Children Phase I (2018-2019)” as the initial pilot, working in collaboration with the Alliance for Children Development Rights in Yau Tsim Mong District and the North District. We expanded the programme in Phase II (June 2020–2022) by partnering with the HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre during the second phase of the programme starting from June 2020. This phase further extended the programme’s reach to include Kwai Tsing District (2020-2022), Yau Tsim Mong District (2020-2021) and Sham Shui Po District (2021-2022). Most recently, Phase III commenced in June 2022, collaborating with community partners such as the Hong Kong Christian Service North Point Happy Teens Club and HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre. Between 2022 to 2024, we successfully implemented community-based children participation programmes in Kwai Chung District and North Point District, aiming to empower children to identify issues that affect child protection and development, and encourage them to voice out their opinions to drive positive change within their communities based on their findings.

To conclude our five-year journey in promoting Child Participatory Community Development and to share the insights gained from our monitoring and evaluation study, Plan International Hong Kong organised the “Voice of the Children Symposium and Exhibition” in 2024. Through a series of thoughtful dialogue sessions and engaging interactive activities, we brought together sector professionals and members of the public in exploring the significance and potential of empowering children to participate meaningfully in the community.

In 2024, we will introduce the “Voice of the Children” on campus for the first time, providing children with more opportunities to learn about their rights and experience community involvement. We are collaborating with the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre to implement a 9-month Pilot Community-School Partnership Project in cooperation with Shek Lei Catholic Primary School. In 2025, in addition to continuing our partnership with Shek Lei Catholic Primary School, we will expand the project to another school in the Kwai Tsing District, Asbury Methodist Primary School, to further promote child participation.

Community-School Partnership

• Pilot project

Moving forward, through collaboration with different organisations, the project aims to allow more children and members of the public to learn about Child Participation.

Partners