Creating partnerships with working children and youth

If children do not have voice, they cannot be heard. And, if we are to fully understand child labor, working children and youth should speak out on their situation. While in recent years this observation (that it is necessary to include the perspective of working children and youth as well as that of their families) is increasingly accepted, the mechanisms for doing so are not well established. This paper reviews how organizations assisting working children and youth can include working children and youth in efforts to reduce the adverse effects of child labor and child labor per se. Children's andyouth organizations can support the empowerment of poor or otherwise marginalized and disadvantaged families. They can grow spontaneously even from small initiatives of local groups. At the local level, these organizations help members to handle their daily situation, and work effectively to improve their conditions both at individual and collective levels. In many cases they can influence local legislation and policymaking and go even further: working children and their organizations have also engaged in international outreach and cross-country networking including participation in the international conferences on child labor in Amsterdam and Oslo. The paper concludes with suggestions for further steps to elaborate the understanding of working children and youth as partners and stakeholders, and to develop ways to include them - whenever appropriate - in programming, planning, policies, advocacy and research concerning child labor.