Resources

This guidebook is part of a research toolkit produced by the International Save the Children Alliance to support the UN Study on Violence against Children (the other part is called So you want to involve children in research? A toolkit supporting children's meaningful and ethical participation in research relating to violence against children). This part of the toolkit is based on the experience of Save the Children developed to facilitate children's meaningful participation in the process leading up to, and including, the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session for Children. It deals with involving childrean in formal consultation and policy processes and covers the following main areas: organizing consultaions with children; planning preparatory workshops with and for children; having children on delegations; the role of adults in creating an enabling environment for participation; ensuring that children are safe and protected; and ensuring follow-up. It also has an extensive guide to other resources.

This information pack is provided to give an introduction to gender and citizenship. It contains three documents: an overview report, a supporting resources collection, and the InBrief, Bridge Bulletin, Issue 14 on Gender and Citizenship. The report looks at the importance of both citizenship and gender to development theory and practice. It discusses key debates in the literature on gender and citizenship and attempts to illustrate how reframing citizenship from a gender perspective can introduce broader rights and political participation as development goals. It also highlights how understanding the ways in which different groups define and experience citizenship can enable development actors and the citizens they work with to make such rights and participation a reality. The supporting resource collection is made up of summaries of key texts, case studies, tools, guidelines and other materials relating to gender and citizenship. Networking and contact details, and links to web resources are also included. The included issue of InBrief looks at the ways in which working with ideas of citizenship can help promote gender equality. An approach to development that starts from the perspective of people as citizens can enable development actors to support struggles for rights and participation in decision-making for those marginalised on the basis of gender. This involves re-framing citizenship rights and responsibilities to include the needs of women and to ensure their access to policy and institutions. Case studies and articles include experiences from Egypt, Bangladesh, Mexico, Namibia, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Rwanda.

This guidebook is part of a research toolkit produced by the International Save the Children Alliance to support the UN Study on Violence against Children (the other part is called So you want to consult with children? A toolkit of good practice). It gives guidance on ways to encourage meaningful and ethical participation by children in research related to violence against children. It promotes research that sees children as active agents in their own lives, not passive victims or research subjects. Specifically, it presents techniques and pointers for the involvement of children in secondary and primary research, including experiences of children participation in research from case studies in Malawi, Vietnam, Yemen, U.K., Tanzania, Bangladesh, Brazil and Canada. General tips for the incorporation of children in research include e.g. considering the risks and costs to children of their participation and acting in their best interests; building in benefits for children who choose to become involved in research; thinking through how to recruit children; exploring with children what are appropriate roles for adults and children in the work; sharing goals and expectations with each other so that everyone can understand the needs, interests and pressures of each member of the team; drawing up ground rules to set the stage for your work together; recognising that children may not want to be involved in all steps of secondary research; practicing talking about the research without using any jargon or academic language; considering whether children should be paid or given another type of incentive to participate; accommodating children of varying ages, skills and abilities; and creating ongoing opportunities for sharing views and experiences about how the process is working.

This paper gives account of a do-it-yourself citizensÆ jury (DIY CJ) where a group of researchers and a ôjuryö picked at random from the local population of Blackburn and Darwen, Lancashire, undertook a series of deliberative workshops during April and May 2004. The subject of this DIY CJ was the role of the police and drink and drug use among young people, a topic which was chosen by the jury itself at the first of these workshops. Having heard a wide range of perspectives from a diverse set of ôwitnessesö the jury sought to recommend a number of solutions to the problems highlighted during the process. Among their specific recommendations, the jury called for: changing social services rules for drug users; the introduction of a tougher enforcement regime for drugs and alcohol regulations; more community policing; new local education authority-driven alcohol and drugs education programmes. The authors reflect on issues of cultural integration and ethnicity and suggest that the re-building of democratic engagement in Northern England, as in many other parts of the UK, will be greatly enhanced by an increase of face-to-face meetings such as those that form the essence of a grassroots citizensÆ jury. They point out that in areas targeted either by race hate groups or religious fundamentalists there is an urgent need for sensitively planned initiatives that move beyond condemnation of the divisive ideologies of such extremists; and that policy-makers should take practical steps to develop innovative new mechanisms of accountability.

As part of the 50th issue of PLA Notes, this article provides an introductory overview of both critical reflections as well as future directions of participatory learning and action. The articles compiled in the 50th edition speak from personal analyses and experiences. This article describes the process and products of a writeshop, held at IDS, where the participants came up with a timeline of participatory development based on their experiences. The main themes identified then formed the basis for the articles in this special issue of PLA Notes, including literacy, adult education and empowerment; participatory communications; sexual and reproductive health and well-being; gender and development; children's participation; agriculture, livestock and fisheries; people-centred approaches for natural resource management; urban participatory development; participation and well-being; monitoring and evaluation; advocacy, citizenship and rights; participatory processes in the North; governance and democracy; and critical reflections from practice. Several crosscutting themes also emerged, such as the evolution or participatory discourse; sharing learning and best practice between the South and the North; recognizing the political significance of participation, democratization and issues of power; scaling-up and institutionalizing participatory approaches; the continuing importance of critical reflection and participatory monitoring and evaluation; and the links between working at the local, national and international levels. After identifying these themes, the article goes on to briefly introduce and summarise each of the articles in this special issue. The article concludes with a hope that readers of PLA Notes continue to send in critical reflections and examples of innovations and best practices.