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“We are here to inform and raise awareness about the issues surrounding children, about Plan and its work and about what can be done to change things in the world.
“Last year was an important year for us; we learnt more about each other, young people from other countries and the issues they face. We met with Chernor from Sierra Leone who told us his experience of civil war and his fight to promote children’s rights in his country. Last year we learnt about issues Plan works with, attended conferences and debated on world issues.
“In particular, we took part in the Global Campaign for Education, to pressure world leaders to help the 77 million children out of school get an education, by joining thousands of others around the world, who sent the Prime Minister cut-outs of teachers to emphasise the need for teachers and their training in developing countries.
“We also had the opportunity to meet Undersecretary of International Development, Gareth Thomas. We made a presentation to him and his colleagues about HIV /Aids to show how that affects the lives of young people across developing countries. We wanted to illustrate how people with HIV /Aids are largely ignored. We put the people in the meeting into four groups and asked them questions about HIV /Aids. The groups could put their hands up to answer questions but we deliberately ignored Gareth Thomas’ group, despite them putting their hands up quite frequently. At the end of the quiz we asked the groups if they had noticed anything unusual. Gareth was quick to comment that he and his group felt left out. We explained that we did that to show how people suffering with HIV /Aids are ignored.
““In addition to getting influential adults thinking about issues affecting children all over the world we did our share to increase public awareness of children’s rights and Plan’s work and collected money for the Tsunami appeal in our spare time.
“Last year, through education, meetings and discussions it’s made us realise why we are part of Plan CA P. We believe in young people playing a more active role in shaping their future. Politics and caring aren’t just adults’ jobs, young people should have their say, too. After all, no-one knows children better than we do.
“The intention to be in CA P isn’t to get something out of it but to put something into it. It’s taught us more about the world and issues like HIV /Aids, gender, children’s rights and poverty. Being in CA P helps me to raise awareness about these issues.
“It’s really important that adults listen to children’s views, particularly children who don’t usually get a chance to voice their opinions, and especially when they intend to make decisions that influence us. We spoke out on BBC Manchester Radio recently on behalf of CA P and the work we do.”
Durgha, Elly, Kate, Katie, Kurtis, Leon, Nia, Maurice, Olivia and Sarah.
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