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

The UNCRC and UK ratification
In November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In Dec 1991, the United Kingdom government ratified the Convention. In line with this the Welsh Assembly Government has made a commitment to promote and support children and young people’s participation and to implementing children and young people’s right to participate as stated in Article 12 through formally adopting the UNCRC.

Children's Commissioner for Wales
In 2001 Wales became the first country in the UK to have a Children's Commissioner. The role of the Commissioner includes ensuring that children and young people are respected and that they know about their rights and have a voice in their community.

Funky Dragon setup
Funky Dragon, the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales was created in 2002 and is a peer-led organisation. Their aim is to give 0 – 25 year olds the opportunity to get their voices heard on issues that affect them.

Funky Dragon’s main tasks are to make sure that the views of children and young people are heard, particularly by the Welsh Assembly Government, and to support participation in decision-making at national level.

They do this via their Grand Council which is made up of a total of 100 young people from across Wales, representing the views of a wide range of both voluntary and statutory organisations. It is their sincerest aim to represent the views of as many young people as possible. With this in mind Funky Dragon has young people elected by the youth forum networks as well as representatives from specific interest groups and places set aside to ensure that any perceived imbalances can be addressed.

Participation Consortium Creation
The Children and Young People's Participation Consortium was initiated in 2003 by The Welsh Assembly Government and is a multi-agency strategic body. It is working at a national level to develop capacity and practice in terms of the participation of children and young people (0-25 years) in decision-making in Wales. Key priorities for the Consortium include participation in education, participation of 0-10's, training in participation and setting standards and gathering evidence on the benefits of participation.

A consortium approach to developing participation ensures co-ordination and the sharing of good practice, avoids duplication and acknowledges diversity.

Current membership includes: Black Voluntary Sector Network, Cardiff Black Youth Network, Children in Wales, Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services, Funky Dragon, Framework for Partnership Co-ordinators, Tros Gynnal, Voices from Care, Save the Children,WCVA, Canllaw Online, The Youth and Adult Learning Opportunities Division of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), the Children’s Commissioner’s Office, Youth Forum Workers, Barnardos, CAFCASS, Carnegie Young People Initiative, CEWC, CLIC, NSPCC and Principal Youth Officers.

Participation Unit established
The Participation Consortium received funding from the WAG Children and Family Grants Scheme and the European Social Fund to establish a Participation Unit in 2004. The Consortium steers the work of the Unit, which is hosted by Save the Children. The Unit acts as a focal point and supports the strategic development of participation. Key pieces of work include the National Children and Young People’s Participation Standards for Wales, developed by the Unit in partnership with children, young people and practitioners across Wales; and the development of Young People Say, a young people led training team funded to deliver participation training to adults across Wales. The Unit has also developed a series of Good Practice Guides on Children and Young People’s Participation.

The Participation Consortium and the Participation Unit are working together at a national level. They are also working with the WAG Participation Project which aims to involve children and young people in the work of the Welsh Assembly Government and other large statutory organsations.

The National Standards for Children and Young People's Participation have been developed from commonly agreed ‘core principles’ of participation. They have been consulted upon and endorsed by young people in Funky Dragon, the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales. At their 2005 AGM, Funky Dragon voted overwhelmingly in favour of National Participation Standards; in 2006, they piloted them alongside five other groups of children and young people across Wales. The final Standards document was endorsed by all members of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Children and Young People’s Cabinet Sub Committee in November 2006.

The National Standards were launched by Jane Davidson, the then Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, at the Participation Unit’s National Standards Seminar on January 25^th 2007. The Seminar brought together adults and young people from local and national projects, all of whom have a stake in the development of National Standards. Sessions were run by young people who had been involved in piloting the Standards.

As a means of further developing good practice, the Participation Consortium and the Participation Unit want to explore quality assurance or kite-marking schemes with the aim of setting up a national kite-mark associated with the National Participation Standards. Working towards a kite-mark means developing a national framework for implementing and assessing against the Standards. It also means piloting how this might work across Wales. The first step is to raise awareness of the Standards and to encourage organisations to use them for self-assessment of their current practice.