“We Know Something Someone Doesn't Know” Children Speak Out on Local Conditions in Johannesburg

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Children, Youth and Environments 15(2), 2005 “We Know Something Someone Doesn’t Know...” Children Speak Out on Local Conditions in Johannesburg1,2 Jill Kruger Research Fellow, University of South Africa Louise Chawla Kentucky State University Citation: Kruger, Jill Swart and Louise Chawla. (2005). “’We Know Something Someone Doesn’t Know… Children Speak Out on Local Conditions in Johannesburg.” Children, Youth and Environments 15(2): 89104 . Comment on This Article Abstract This article summarizes a four-site study within the process to transform Greater Johannesburg into a child-friendly city. Applying the Growing Up in Cities model of UNESCO, it presents the voices of 10- through 14-year olds in four diverse but representative areas of the city as they describe their use of their local environments, the problems they face, and their own priorities for making Johannesburg a better city in which to grow up. Based on the children’s experiences, a number of program and policy responses are recommended, many of which will be relevant to other cities as well. Keywords: Johannesburg, South Africa, participation, child-friendly cities, urban children, children and neighborhood© 2005 Children, Youth and Environments “We Know Something Someone Doesn’t Know...” Children Speak Out… 90 Making Greater Johannesburg Child Friendly Johannesburg is the mining and industrial center of Gauteng, the most densely populated province in South Africa. Since the early 20th century, it has been a magnet for people from neighboring provinces and countries seeking work in its mines, factories and shops. About a third of its population of approximately 3 million is under 19 years of age. The settings in which these young people live range from luxurious suburban homes to the makeshift structures of squatter families and the homeless. For children in Johannesburg and other cities of South Africa, there is no single urban reality. Yet one condition that children in these different areas share is that they are seldom asked how they feel about living where they do; it is taken for granted that their parents and other adults know how they feel and what they need. In 1999, the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (GJMC) passed a resolution to make Johannesburg child-friendly, and the mayor signed a partnership agreement with UNICEF to make this a reality. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), children have a right to express themselves in decisions that affect their lives (Article 12); ways now had to be found to include children’s input into city structures and policies. In August 1999, the GJMC commissioned members of UNESCO’s Growing Up in Cities initiative to build on previous work in Johannesburg, and to enable children to speak out about their lives in four different Johannesburg neighborhoods. Growing Up in Cities (GUIC) is a program to involve children in evaluating their urban environments and planning how to improve the conditions of their lives (Chawla 2002). With the ultimate goal of influencing municipal policies through the inclusion of children’s perspectives, it seeks to build broad alliances of people committed to taking action on children’s behalf in community-based and nongovernmental organizations, and across different sectors of government. The four site studies reported here show there is an urgent need to hear what children have to say about conditions in their neighborhoods. Adults appear complacent about difficulties that children face, but children’s daily experiences at these four sites, when measured against international qualitative indicators, show cause for alarm. It is clear that these neighborhoods are hostile for children and that action is needed on many fronts to realize the goals of a childfriendly city. This article reviews the GUIC approach to participatory actionresearch with children, summarizes children’s descriptions of their lives at the four sites, and closes with recommendations. The Four Site Study The four sites in Greater Johannesburg were in different geographic and socioeconomic areas: western Joubert Park precinct in the inner city, Malvern/Kensington, Riverlea Extension, and Pimville. Researchers used participatory methods to work with children aged 10 to 14 at these four sites to enable them to express their views about their daily living conditions and to offer recommendations for improvements. Key problems that children identified at...