INTRODUCTION
Children’s participation is a basic human right, and one of the core principles that underline the effective
implementation of all the other rights. With the evolution of children’s rights, increasing efforts have been
made across the world to create opportunities for children to participate in matters concerning them. These
efforts are transpiring at different levels ranging from family, to national, regional and global arenas.
As more and more opportunities for children’s participation are being created, much focus has also been
placed on improving the quality of their involvement in different activities and processes. This has been of
greater concern with regard to children’s involvement in international events as the effectiveness of their
participation largely relies on the quality of support that adults extend to children.
Therefore, adults extending support to children involved in international events have a primary responsibility
to ensure that the children are protected and respected at all times. By establishing and maintaining high
standards in their duty of care, these supportive adults not only contribute to ensure meaningful children’s
involvement in these events, but also support children in their efforts to realise their own rights.
So you are going to become a
chaperon! What does it really mean?
To put it simply, you will be expected to provide
support to a child who will be going out of their own
country to participate in a gathering regarding
different aspects of children’s rights. As the
chaperon, you will be responsible to extend support
so to ensure that this child is well protected and
respected at all times and at different stages of the
process. Also, you will need to ensure that this
support is provided in a manner that respects the
best interest of the child.
Your responsibilities begin from getting to know the
child, in case you have not had a chance to meet the
child through your work previously. Your primary
responsibilities end when the child is safely handed
over to their parents when you come back.
However, you could be involved in supporting
follow-up activities agreed at the event as you can
play an important role in ensuring continuity of
activities given your involvement in the actual event.
As you can see, you will be expected to take on a set
of responsibilities which require robust preparation.
However, you will not be alone in this important
task: there will be a designated child protection
team in place, and its members will be there to
support you in your role.
In order to clarify roles and responsibilities, and
other key aspects of duties chaperons are entrusted
with, a series of briefing was prepared as a broad
guidance. In the next section, roles and
responsibilities of a chaperon will be discussed in
detail. Later on, you will also find sections with
useful information on how you should prepare for
your role as a chaperon. These include a set of
criteria for qualifying to become a chaperone; how
to provide efficient language assistance to the child;
how to support the organisers with logistical
arrangements; how to prepare for and support the
child with any media exposures during the event;
specific roles and responsibilities and some key
points to remember. The toolkit is also accompanied
by a checklist to assist with specific preparations
during the overall process.