https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/beyond-being-heard
This discussion paper emerges from groundbreaking intergenerational consultations conducted by UNICEF Innocenti across four regions in 2024, bringing together 120 children and young people aged 12-23, UNICEF staff and civil society experts from 18 countries. Through these regional dialogues, young participants not only shared their experiences but actively shaped the agenda, moving beyond traditional consultation approaches to become co-leads in the analysis.
The paper reveals a striking contradiction: while today’s youth represent the largest cohort in human history, their political power remains severely constrained by age discrimination, safety risks, and limited access to resources. Yet from Bangladesh’s student-led protests to Kenya’s strategic youth-women alliances, children and young people are forging innovative pathways to civic engagement that combine formal institutional channels with creative grassroots activism.
Building on the engaging intergenerational dialogues of 2024, this paper examines both the systemic barriers young people face and the creative solutions they’re developing – from arts-based advocacy in West Africa to digital organizing in Latin America. The findings provide concrete recommendations for children, educators, policymakers, and organizations on how to move beyond tokenistic inclusion toward genuine partnership, recognizing children and young people as political actors in their own right.
