Meaningful Youth Participation

Youth participation means actively and continuously engaging young people in making decisions on issues that affect their lives and communities.  

Meaningful youth participation (MYP) means that children and young people are considered the experts in their own lives, and are informed, empowered, safe and valued when they participate.    

Note: There is no single definition of youth participation across sectors and languages. Other terms such as ‘youth engagement’ or ‘youth empowerment’ are also used and sometimes interchangeably. WAGGGS has decided to use ‘meaningful youth participation’ because it communicates that young people should be engaged, empowered and playing an active role in making decisions.  

Meaningful youth participation can and does exist at all levels of the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement. It can take place in relation to big decisions or small decisions, from local group level, to programme design and delivery, right through to MO and global governance.  

However, it can only take place when there is: a culture that supports youth participation; accessible opportunities for young women to participate and principles in place to ensure these opportunities are genuine spaces where young women can use their power. As set out in the ‘Trefoil of Participation’ which is explained in more detail in section 3 of this framework.

Meaningful youth participation puts young people in the driving seat and equips them for the journey. When young people are meaningfully included, they are not passive recipients of adult action - or inaction - but are powerful agents of change.

Why is youth participation important?  

Across the youth work sector, there is a lot of research and literature that points to four key reasons ‘why’ youth participation is important.  

1. Participation is a human right

   Children and young people have the right to participate in decisions that affect them. For under 18s, this right is reflected within Article 12 of the United Nations Rights of the Child, which says ‘every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously.’  

2. Participation helps to shift power imbalances

   Meaningful participation can bring power to groups of people who are often excluded. That could be ‘children’ or ‘young people’ as a whole, but also other groups such as girls, or young people with disabilities. It can also act to shift and readdress power balances within society or organisations.  

3. Participation improves outcomes

   Participation ensures initiatives designed for children and young people work FOR them. This improves the impact and efficiency of a programme, initiative, idea or organisation. This is an argument that is particularly strong with policymakers and funders.  

4. Participation supports young people’s development

   Through participating, young people build skills and confidence. When done well, it can be a transformative experience.