Kids Got Rights! is a two-year project led by IFM-SEI and funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2022). The project brings together young people from seven organisations across Europe. Our partner organisations in the project are Nuorten Kotkien Keskusliitto (NKK, Finland), Arciragazzi (Italy), Esplais Catalans (ESPLAC, Spain), University of Barcelona (UB, Research Group on Moral Education – GREM, Spain), Rote Falken Kinderfreunde Österreich (Kinderfreunde, Austria), Slovenian Falcons Youth Union (SFYU, Slovenia) and DUI-LEG og VIRKE (DUI, Denmark).
Kids Got Rights! focuses on child participation and the empowerment of children through self-organisation and claiming their own rights. The project involves children from 8 to 13 years old in six international meetings and several national activities, besides a parallel research action, aimed at raising awareness and training children and adults around the topic of children’s participation rights.
Since March 2021, a group of young Woodcraft Folk members from the UK have come together to form Children’s Rights Superheroes to take part in the project. Following on from the trip to Barcelona in March, a group of six young people (from Waltham Abbey and Leeds Woodcraft Folk districts) accompanied by Waltham Abbey group leaders Jan and Jojo, headed on an adventure to Austria for the International Kids Hubs.
The group set off on Good Friday and had an early start! After flying to Vienna, they met friends from Kinderfreunde and the other participating organisations and enjoyed some free time to explore Vienna and then travelled by coach together to Dobriach. The five hour coach journey presented the young attendees with some breathtaking scenery which even went through the mountain range!
Over the weekend the participants got to meet new friends from across Europe and they worked collaboratively to design their own social media campaigns and explored the Dobriach, Kinderfreunde owned campsite.
On the last night of the trip the group cooked on the campfire and shared treats and sweets from each country. The Woodcraft Folk group took Mini Cheddars and sherbert lemons to represent the UK.
The Woodcraft Folk participants worked together with their international counterparts to develop a social media campaign around what they have learnt throughout the project. This included loads of information and knowledge about Children’s Rights – what they are and how young people themselves can call out when they are not being recognised, respected or met.
After a weekend of creativity and active wide games – one of which included some wheelbarrow racing! – the group began their journey back to Vienna to return to the UK.
The next steps of the Kids Got Rights! project are for the Woodcraft Folk Superheroes to develop their social media campaigns and launch them as well as deliver sessions around children’s rights and what they have learnt at international camp Common Ground this summer.
To find out more about Kids Got Rights! head here
