Children and young people in Sri Lanka now have a powerful new way to make their voices heard and lead change – the Child, Adolescent & Youth (CAY) Participation and Campaign Toolkit, informed by children & youth, civil society organisations and government officials, has been launched, now giving them practical and powerful tools to safely speak out, influence decision-makers, and lead change in their own communities.
This toolkit does not reinvent the wheel. Instead, it brings together and centralizes existing knowledge, best practices, and tools from across Sri Lanka and around the world, making them accessible in one user-friendly resource. With step by-step interactive activities, it equips children to safely, design and push for solutions that matter to them. Policymakers and organizations can also use it to strengthen services and policies that reflect children’s real needs.
Co-created with children, adolescents, youth, government and civil society, this toolkit is a powerful new tool that can be used to harness the voices, concerns, and solutions of children, turning them into actionable and contextualised campaigns – creating safer spaces for children to be heard.
“Adults talk about our problems, but they rarely ask us how to solve them. With this toolkit, we finally have a way to lead the change we want to see,” said a 16-year-old girl from Jaffna.
The custodians of the toolkit is the newly established ‘Community of Practice on Child Participation and Campaigns’ – a group of technical experts on child rights, participation and advocacy in Sri Lanka, who will mentor, train, and keep the approach alive well into the future. Backed by over 30 civil society organizations, implemented by The Centre for Children’s Happiness, supported by Save the Children Sri Lanka and funded by Save the Children Hong Kong, the toolkit is part of the Voices for Change project.
Mayuran, Director at The Centre for Children’s Happiness says:
“Policies that concern children’s rights, particularly in areas such as education, protection, and disaster preparedness and response, must be shaped by their voices. This tool, together with our technical hub, helps ensure that children and young people can be meaningfully included in the policy-making process”
The toolkit was piloted in the Jaffna and Mullaitivu districts, where over 100 children & youth participated in the process. As part of the pilot, children advocated for the establishment of children’s clubs across their divisions to promote the safety and wellbeing of all children nationwide. The campaign also called for the creation of safer public spaces, places where children can truly be themselves, free from danger and harm.
“We ask for one children’s club in every division in Jaffna. That means 435 clubs in the next two years. We call upon the government to make participation a priority, civil society to stand with us in building a safe space. We call upon the private sector to invest in the future of children, and we call upon parents to believe in and support us.”
The launch also introduces children.lk, a new digital hub where the toolkit and other resources will be freely available – ensuring long-term access and collaboration.
Partners, schools, government, and community groups are invited to step forward and be part of this movement. Together, we can move beyond tokenism, by listening and ensuring that children’s voices lead the way toward real, lasting change in Sri Lanka – a future that they can live in.
About The Centre for Children’s Happiness (CCH)
The Centre for Children’s Happiness (CCH) is a nationally recognized child-focused non-profit organization based in Sri Lanka. For over 20 years, CCH has been working at the heart of war-affected and underserved communities to create environments where every child can grow up safe, valued, healthy and happy.
About Save the Children
Save the Children works around the world to contribute to immediate and lasting improvements for children, in emergencies as well as development contexts. We want a world in which all children survive, learn and are protected.