Defining Participation

Participation is a commonly used approach and concept within development. It has numerous definitions, for example, the World Bank has defined participatory development as:

“... a process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.” World Bank, 1994, pi

DFID’s definition of participation is linked to a rights perspective as follows:

“... enabling people to realise their rights to participate in, and access information relating to, the decision-making processes which affect their lives.” DFID, 2000

There is increasing interest in youth participation, driven to some extent by the discourse on children’s rights.27 However, this has been limited, and is often only at a superficial level, in the sense that young people are often included in one-off discussions, where their contributions of ‘voice’ do not actually affect core structural policy decisions.

• 27. See also Roger Hart’s ladder model of participation, ‘The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care’, Earthscan 1997 and Phil Treseder’s adaptation of it in ‘Empowering children and young people’, Save the Children 1997.