The Participation Consortium is working across Wales to promote the participation of children and young people in decision making.

Benefits of Participation

Benefits to children and young people

Participation provides the opportunity for children and young people’s personal, social and political development. Participation can offer practical experience and the opportunity to learn how to exercise responsibility. Children and young people’s participation brings a number of benefits to the individual children involved

• Direct improvements in their own lives and life chances e.g. improved services.
• The possibility to protect themselves and challenge abuses of their rights, either directly or through informing a responsible adult.
• Enhanced self-confidence and self esteem
• An opportunity to acquire and expand their skills, including problem-solving, negotiation and communication skills.
• Familiarisation with group and democratic processes, including understanding different points of view, the need for compromise and a sense of responsibility for group decisions.
• A sense of purpose and competence in their own lives - a belief that they can make a positive impact on their own lives and on the lives of their peers, family and community.
• An opportunity to learn and practice the skills of responsible and active citizenship.

Children and young people’s participation has benefits for organisations in that it:

• Enhances relationships
• Increases organisational relevance to children
• Improves organisational ability to achieve outcomes
• Assists organisations to effectively target funds
• Enhances organisational credibility and reputation
• Offers organisations a wider variety of perspectives
• Improves organisational systems
• Helps build capacity and sustainability within an organisation

Benefits to the community

Participation empowers children and young people as members of civil society and active citizens. The practice of participation strengthens children's ability to hold organisations, institutions and governments to account. It enables children to play an active part in civil society and to compensate for their exclusion from formal political processes. It increases the visibility of children and children's issues ensuring that they are given greater weight in economic, social and political agendas. By increasing accountability to children, it enlarges the democratic space and encourages good governance.