Project of the month

The project has drawn on and enriched the existing knowledge base about ethical research within the Childwatch Network, and capitalised on the information shared at the Child Participatory Research Roundtable at the 2009 Childrens Rights at a Crossroads Conference in Addis Ababa. It has provided useful information about the ethical issues and challenges facing researchers undertaking research with children.

Existing resources and publications that provide guidelines to researchers have been identified and collated. The information can be used to expand the discussion on appropriate Child Research Methodologies, interface with the work of the Childwatch Training Courses for Young Researchers to build research capacity. 

Wikichild is a new interactive online source for child well-being research and data.

To build Wikichild into a valuable source for the child research community for years to come, your help is needed. Please register as a Wikichild user today and begin to upload your articles. 

The perspectives on the African child are shaped by a multiplicity of factors that include both the worldview of the researchers, donor priorities and pressures, as well as what will "sell" better i peer review journals. This implies a real concern with what is going on in terms of research on child issues in Afirca in order to avoid generalisations and particularising the African children in ways that portray them in an unfavourable light. Childwatch International and CODESRIA joined forces and invited scholars from 13 countries in Africa to meet and discuss issues related to child research in Africa, in November 2006. The papers presented and discussed at the colloquium have finally been released as a CODESRIA Monograph.         

This conference aims to debate the global and national implications of these new migration flows for sending and receiving countries and for migrants themselves. What are the implications of these migrations for Europe? What do these migrations mean for new immigrant societies? What lessons can be learnt from countries with longer immigration experience? The conference includes a stream on Children, Youth and Immigration. The closing date for abstracts of papers submission is 29 January 2010.

The International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (CIESPI at PUC Rio) is in the middle of an exciting project to use a federally mandated strategy to improve policies and practices for children in the situation of the streets.

The Children's Research Centre in Dublin is involved in this important national, longitudinal study of children. Growing Up in Ireland is  the most significant of its kind ever to take place in Ireland and will help to improve the understanding of all aspects of children and their development.The study will take place over seven years and follow the progress of two groups of children; 8500 nine-year-olds and 10,500 nine-month-olds.

The Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC) of the University of the West Indies, Open Campus carried out a project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, to compile information on all HIV-related interventions for children in Jamaica.

This month's project by the Centre for Children and Young People, a project which begun in  June 2006 and will end next month in June 2009, aims to explore children's views and experiences of inclusion in decision-making processes in Interrelate Family Relationships Centres over time. These new FRC’s are designed to act as a single entry point into the family law system and to provide information, advice and dispute resolution services in order to help parents facilitate agreement without going to court. This project will also aim to examine how child-inclusive and child-focussed practice with children in post-separation decision-making is understood, facilitated and evaluated in Interrelate Family Relationships Centres.

Making Research Count is a collaborative research dissemination initiative between the social work sectors at nine English Universities, one being the Childwatch International Key Institution at the University of East Anglia. The nine universities have in common an involvement in social work qualifying and post-qualifying training, a long-term interest in applied research, particularly on children and family issues, an inclusive and collaborative approach and a commitment to high quality social work and social care. These common interests provide an important foundation to promote knowledge-based practice in social work and social care.

The resent study published in December 2008 approaches the changed drinking habits of young people with qualitative methods. It was carried out in an metropolitan area - in Vienna - and in an provincial and rural area - in Lower Austria - , which as East-Austrian wine-growing states show a comparable drinking culture. The conspicuous consumption by young people in groups, which are described here as "juvenile alcohol scenes", is at the focus of attention.

Project for children and young people in high-risk social sectors located in the city of Caracas. Children are trained in the art of recycling of solid waste and involve parents and community in the process of recycling. The idea is that children actively participate in their communities and that these actions promote environmental achievement in children and adolescents as well as a proper civic education to develop self-esteem, values and build a project of life and environmental awareness.

The main strategy of the program is the creation of family and community centers where families, schools and the community strengthen their abilities to care for their children in a more appropriate way. Groups of mothers with children from 0 to 6 attend weekly meetings to strengthen their abilities to attend the physical and psychological needs of their children and to solve cooperatively other family and community problems they see as priorities. The work is guided by community leaders who are trained to work with the families, as well as to promote community organization to foster local development.

For this last month of the year we have chosen an uplifting participatory project 'Ask the children'. This project of the New South Wales Commission for Children and Young People produces a series of reports which make kids'views available to the public and decision makers, about what kids' views are on important areas of their lives. Our Key Institution at The University of Western Sydney took part in asking 126 children and young people across New South Wales what well-being means to them.

Approaching the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child we are proud to present this month's project by NOVA: A report on children and young people's views on growing up in Norway seen in relation to some articles of the UN Convention, which was annexed to Norway´s official report to the UN on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

How well is South Africa doing in fulfilling its constitutional commitments to children? This is a question relevant to all countries world-wide. This is the question that motivates the Children's Institute. South African Child Gauge, which offers an annual snap-shot of the situation of children and reflects critically on a selection of conditions that help or hinder children's well-being and their enjoyment of their rights.

Addresses personal violence against and amongst children and youth (family violence, school violence, community violence).  Created in 1988, it received  the Henry Kempe International Award in 1990.

The focus of this project is to document the trajectories of civically engaged youths in Rio de Janeiro and to understand how they got engaged and how they see their civic participation or role in society. The research is a joint venture linking three cities and organizations: in Chicago, USA, coordinated by Maria de los Angeles Torres, University of Illinois; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by Irene Rizzini, CIESPI/PUC-Rio and Mexico City, by Norma Alicia Del Rio Lugo, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México. The researchers are conducting a series of in-depth ethnographies of about 20 youths (aged 15 to 24) from different communities and with different social and economic backgrounds.