By Loretta B Manele
We often think of children as not understanding things or being vulnerable however it is important to listen to what they have to say about the things that make them happy and the things that they are concerned about.
Lisa Cuatt is the country director for Save the Children in Solomon Islands who expressed this at the first ever Children’s High-Level Dialogue on Wed, 20th Nov at the Paul Tovua complex.
A first of its kind that catered to student presentations and dialogue between students and leaders of the country.
Cuatt voiced that hearing what children have to say is included in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child’s right to be heard.
She said children do need the support, care and guidance of adults and it is equally important to recognise that they have capabilities, strength and a unique perspective of the world.
When she started to think about the importance of listening to children, she immediately thought about the story of Tilly.
Here, Cuatt shares the story of Tilly depicting how children can be leaders in their own way to bring about positive change.
It’s December 2004 and Tilly who is just 10 years old was with her family in Phuket, Thailand on the beach as any family would be.
She noticed that the sea wasn’t in its normal every day form, as it was all frothy and the water was pulling back and not coming back towards the shore.
Tilly had learnt about tsunamis in a geography lesson at school just two weeks ago before the Boxing Day tsunami.
So, seeing what was happening, she stood up and alerted her parents and the other 100 people who were also on the beach and the beach was evacuated before the tsunami reached the shore.
This beach was one of few beaches on the island that had no reported deaths.
Tilly was a hero that day and her actions shows that children can be very positive influencers and can contribute to positive change.
In this case, Tilly was a leader herself.
Cuatt stressed that as adults, we should empower and equip children with knowledge, strategies and the confidence to speak up.
“At Save the Children we know that one of the most important ways to keep children safe from harm and abuse is to create an environment where children feel like they can speak up and talk about their concerns”
Cuatt said the best way to build a safe organisation is to make sure that children’s voices are heard.
She added we must also make sure that children are listened to and that they are supported in expressing their views.
“We want to take into account children’s views when we make decisions. We want children to be involved in and share responsibility for decision making around issues that impact them”
Going forward, Cuatt hopes that we can continue to involve children in finding solutions to the issues that they raised at the dialogue.
