Children

Advice on policy and programming with respect to children is rarely found in guidelines to address gender in development. The needs of girls and boys, and the underlying socio-economic and political factors that affect large numbers of children in developing countries, tend to be overlooked. Where mentioned, children are frequently subsumed within women's reproductive responsibilities rather than treated as social agents. DFID's approach is to focus on the rights of children as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which looks at four main areas: Rights to Survival; Rights to Livelihood; Rights to Protection; and Rights to Participation. Various issues relating to the empowerment of children are examined in three key sections. Vulnerability and Coping, provides an overview of the role of gender in child survival and well-being. This is followed by a section on children targeted as especially vulnerable: abused children; displaced children; street children; and working children. Finally, tools and checklists are provided. The pivotal message is that, if children's rights to participate as full members of society are not to be neglected, planning has to be based on high quality research conducted in consultation with children and their communities.