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In Wales, the children and young people’s participation agenda has developed in a distinct and unique way.

These developments are set within the framework of the Welsh Assembly Government’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child now formally adopted as the basis of all its work for children and young people (Rights to Action, WAG, 2004).

The Welsh Assembly Government has shown its commitment to developing the participation of children and young people in some of its policy documents, most notably the Framework for Partnership (2002) and Extending Entitlement (2001).

The Welsh Assembly has supported the development of children and young people’s participation by a number of means including:

• Establishing the office of the Children’s Commissioner as an independent champion for children and young people.  
• Establishing a Children and Young People’s Assembly - Funky Dragon
• Working with Local Authorities to set up Children and Young People Framework. 
• Providing short term, dedicated funding to Local Authorities to develop participation strategies, including Youth Forums, with regard to young people aged 11 – 25. 
• Made it compulsory that all primary, secondary and special education schools in Wales establish a School Council (website link at the bottom of the page).

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) started a task group to look at a structure that involves children and young people in decision-making across Wales.   The task group resulted in starting a Participation Consortium for Wales to make sure full participation of all children and young people in Wales happens. 

The Participation Consortium received funding from the Assembly’s ‘Children and Family Grants Scheme’ and the ‘European Social Fund’ to establish a Participation Unit in 2004.  The Participation Consortium steers the work of the Participation Unit, which is hosted by Save the Children. The Participation Unit supports the strategic development of participation in Wales.

The Participation Consortium and the Participation Unit are also working closely at a national level with the Welsh Assembly Government Participation Project.  This project aims to involve children and young people in the work of the Assembly, including policy development and consultation.  It also aims to encourage participation in other large statutory organisations.  

The Participation Consortium, Participation Unit and Participation Project all work closely with Funky Dragon.
 
The participation process in Wales is both diverse and continually evolving and you can find out more by taking a look at the Assembly’s website.