The guidelines for the functioning of the Child Local Council were developed within the project ‘CL.A.P. - Children’s Rights, Awareness and Participation Addressing Emerging Needs in Covid-19 Pandemic’.

CLAP, funded by the European programme CERV-CHILD 2021, aimed to contribute to raising awareness and full realisation of children's rights through actions promoting the EU strategy on children's rights with a
special focus on those related to participation.

The After a research phase involving adults involved in child protection (educators, social workers, etc.) and children on the effects of the pandemic and the new needs that emerged, the project built training courses on innovative approaches and methodologies aimed at raising awareness on children's rights and implementing the principles of Child Led Research.
Lastly, through a series of round tables and meetings involving children, third sector actors and local institutions, two major results were achieved: the formalisation of a protocol committing the parties to promote the involvement of children in decision-making processes and the drafting of guidelines for the operation of a consultation system for children's representatives, which will be presented in the following pages.

Here are the Guidelines for the Local Youth Councils:
CHILD LOCAL COUNCIL-Guideline-CLAP-ENG

The Covid-19 pandemic, as emerged from numerous research studies, including the one carried out by the project, has had a very strong impact on the well-being of children, leading to great social isolation, the effects
of which are also visible in the long term, in a delicate phase of the growth process and creating new needs to which institutions must know how to respond in order to address and overcome them.

Involving minors in the process of identifying their needs is the key to making their participation active and effective in the decision-making processes that affect them and protecting their rights, which are often
violated due to a limited consideration of their perspective.

The project, therefore, supports the active role of minors as political subjects capable of identifying their needs and dialoguing with institutions to claim rights and implement shared strategies that can promote their well-being and active participation.
The partners involved CISS, IMAGO MUNDI, REPLIKA, AHEAD, ICDI and I SICALIANI implemented the actions envisaged by the project in four different countries including Italy, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands.