The Democratic Activation of Youth (DAY) project in Naples, Italy, helps children and teenagers (aged 14-18) to have a say in what happens in their community.
1,350 students from 9 schools in Naples worked together with Eurochild, Fondazione l'Albero della Vita, and CIDIS to make their voices heard.
What is the DAY project?
In the last 18 months, the DAY project asked children and teenagers to share their views on important topics such as social welfare, education, and urban planning. The project used a model for child participation based on principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Project achievements:
- Youth Civic Agendas: Children identified key issues in their communities and presented solutions to local policymakers.
- Model for Child Participation: A tool to help children and teenagers speak up and use their voice in their community.
- Raising Awareness among Policymakers: Training of local policymakers on why it is important to involve children in decision-making processes.
Meeting with European policymakers
The DAY project involved people from other parts of Europe. Children talked online with other children from Eurochild’s Children’s Council. They met European policymakers and international youth networks.
Children from Naples visited Brussels to meet with EU officials: people from the European Commission’s Child Rights team and Italian Members of the European Parliament.
These meetings gave the children a chance to speak up for their rights both locally and in the EU and to link what they were doing in Naples with other projects in Europe.
The 3 main messages:
- The possibility of guaranteeing active participation of young people in the democratic life of their territory
- The importance of the role of youth-led advocacy campaigns
- The change that can happen thanks to cooperation between politicians and young people at local, national and European levels.
The final conference took place on 18 September in Naples with 100 children and adults celebrating together what they had achieved.
What's next?
The DAY project has shown that children can play a key role in shaping important decisions. The project is almost finished, but there is still more to come with Eurochild making a film to show how the project made a difference.
Resources
Download the DAY Project child-friendly model for child participation from the Eurochild website.
The Day Project is an EU-funded project and part of the Citizen Equality Rights and Values (CERV) programme.