ChildFund Alliance - Children's Voices for the #GlobalGoals

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About the site

In the three years leading to 2016, people around the world engaged in consultations about the kind of world they want, as well as a set of global priorities to chart the course toward a sustainable future after the Millennium Development Goals expire.

ChildFund Alliance believe that children should have a predominant place at the table where their future is negotiated, and that their voices should be listened to in the formulation and implementation of the new set of global goals.

With this in mind, we have spoken with more than 16,000 children in over 50 countries where ChildFund Alliance is present. We have asked them about their thoughts and views on one of the most pressing challenges to development: violence against children, and about their own aspirations for what the new global priorities should be. On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we also asked them what children’s rights meant to them, and about which rights are and which are not being upheld in their countries.

Here’s what we’ve learned:

Children want the MDGs to be fulfilled and the protection of children from violence to be added as a global priority.
Almost one in every three children in developing countries believe their rights to protection from violence are not being upheld in their country.
Despite their awareness of horrendous violations to their rights, children know what needs to be done: they want their leaders to create and enforce laws that protect them, perpetrators to be punished, and the public to be aware.
Children aspire to have their rights fulfilled and to be able to exercise their fundamental freedoms: they want to speak and be heard; they want everyone to have access to quality education and healthcare; they want equality for everyone regardless of their class, disability, ethnicity, gender, or race.
Children want to live in a clean and safe environment, with more trees planted than cut, less use of toxic materials and more recycling, and less greenhouse emissions and cleaner air.
Children want to be involved in the monitoring of the new global goals, they are aware of the importance of measuring progress at the local level, and with direct engagement of the communities.

Explore this site, and learn more about children’s aspirations, concerns, and recommendations for their futures and for sustainable development.

These are Children’s Voices for the #GlobalGoals.

About the data

The data was gathered through consultations, focus group discussions, and surveys (with multiple-choice and open-ended questions).

The free charters: In 2014, over 2,300 children in 40 countries were asked what their aspirations and priorities were for the future of sustainable development. Read what they had to say here.

Children speak about being free from violence and exploitation: In 2013, we engaged over 1,300 children in 41 countries in focus group discussions about their views on the issue of violence and exploitation, and their place in the next set of global priorities. Read what they had to say here.

*For the purposes of this study, Belarus was taken to be part of the Asia Pacific region.

Small Voices, Big Dreams 2013: In 2013, as part of our Small Voices, Big Dreams survey, we conducted 6,500 one-on-one interviews with children in 47 countries, asking them to rank what is important for them and their families, according to the MY World survey and what they wanted world leaders to do about violence against children. Read what they had to say here.

Small Voices, Big Dreams 2014: In 2014, to mark the 25th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, our Small Voices, Big Dreams survey asked 6,040 children in 44 countries for their views on child rights. Read what they had to say here.

Throughout this process, the participation of both boys and girls was ensured, and all processes applied the standards for child participation as highlighted in the General Comment No. 12 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The selection of countries was based on those where ChildFund Alliance works.

ChildFund Alliance staff conducted consultations, focus group discussions, and one-on-one interviews with children in their local language. All non-English responses were translated by ChildFund Alliance. In some English-speaking developed countries, children completed an online survey for Small Voices, Big Dreams.

The qualitative and quantitative information was reviewed by ChildFund Alliance staff or by external experts. The information gathered during the consultations was reviewed and coded to obtain quantifiable results.

The charts for Children speak about being free from violence and exploitation and The free charters: Children’s priorities for the post-2015 development agenda indicate the percentage of countries where children raised a particular issue or gave a particular answer. The charts for Small Voices, Big Dreams 2013 and 2014 indicate the percentage of children that raised a particular issue or gave a particular answer.

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