Barriers to Children and Young People’s Participation in Policy Making in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract: This research examined the barriers to young people's participation as strategic stakeholders in the formulation of public policy, using the formulation of Ghana's youth policy as a case study. The aim was to gain knowledge about the processes that facilitate or hinder young people's participation in the policy process at national level. The study involved the use of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 20 stakeholders in the policy process. Findings showed discrepancy in the attitudes and behaviour of policy makers towards young people. For example, on one hand policy-makers recognised young people's right to participate but on the other hand they did not seek to involve young people in the policy process. This paper presents a number of factors contributing to this discrepancy and how to overcome them. The paper concludes that to effectively involve young people in the formulation of public policies young people must possess and exercise democratic franchise.Keywords: Youth Participation, Ghana, Policy Formulation, Barriers to ParticipationIntroductionCitizenry participation in the process of formulating and implementing public policies is considered to be a major pillar of good governance (McFerson, 2009 cited in Kpessa, 2011). There is therefore a continued emphasis on the need to promote public participation in the policy process (Gyimah-Boadi, 2004; Harrold, 2000). Research into citizenry participation in the policy process has however focussed on adults and civil society organisations (Kpessa, 2011). This study focused on children and young people's participation in the policy process. It is hoped that the study would shed more light on children and young people's participation in policymaking. The paper used the formulation of Ghana's national youth policy as a case study to outline the barriers to involving young people in public policymaking. The first section of the paper is devoted to outlining the barriers to young people's participation, while the second section looks at overcoming the barriers. The findings of the study strongly suggest that 15-17 year olds have more commonalities with adults, in terms of their desire to be included in governance systems. The study urges policy-makers and politicians to re-think teenagers and politics and realise that young people are not disinterested in policy-making.Problem StatementAlthough there are increasing efforts to involve youth (broadly defined) in development processes, those at the lower end of youth definition (i.e., 15-17 year olds) are still often excluded. This has resulted in a 'research deficit' on 15-17 year olds; for they are not generally considered children so they are excluded from childhood research (usually between 5-14 years) and they are also not considered adults hence excluded from adulthood research (usually 18+ years). The overwhelming majority of literature on children's participation reflect research either in family decision-making including divorce cases, children in State's care-child protection or looked after children's care planning and reviews (e.g., Kassan, 2004; Fitzgerald, 2009; Eriksson and Nasman, 2008; Thomas and O'Kane, 1999; Gunn, 2005; 2008) or on children's involvement in school decision-making (e.g., Cox et al., 2010; Ochaita and Espinosa, 1997; Veitch, 2009). A few researchers have looked at children's participation in health (e.g., Vis et al., 2010), environment (Horelli, 1998) and in public sphere at the municipal/local level (e.g., Williams, 2004; Fanelli et al., 2007).Evidence of children's participation at national and/or international level is very limited. Perhaps this is not surprising, given that the most difficult area to assess the impact of children's participation is public policy (Williams, 2005; Shier, 2001). Kirby and Bryson (2002) have noted that in spite of the growing attempt to involve young people in public decision-making, research and evaluation of such efforts is lacking. …