Children represent about a quarter of the world’s population, although they are still not well represented in the decision makings, which affect them.
Professor Laura Lundy from Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s) proposed a new way in 2007 to ensure that policymakers and those who work directly with children seek and listen to children’s voices in a meaningful way.
The most important points are, that
- children must be provided with a safe space,
- get the necessary information to come to an informed opinion,
- an audience that is responsible for listening and can make a difference,
- and children's views are taken seriously and acted upon.
In 2003 Laura was the principal investigator for a research project on children’s rights in Northern Ireland, which caused the invetion. “We spoke to over a thousand children and their sense of frustration about not being heard, being dismissed or being considered to be cheeky when they gave their views, was simply overwhelming. It was like an epiphany for me. It absolutely changed how I looked at research and my own thinking. That’s where the Lundy model came from,”.
One good example could be the #CovidUnder19 initiative done during the COVID-19 pandemic. Laura’s team developed a survey that received 27,000 responses from children in over 130 countries. The results could help governments to understand how their policies are impacting children.