Children's Voice - Kiev, Ukraine
In January 2001, the international NGO the Foundation of Youth Culture and Education (FYCE) launched a three-year effort to create the Independent Children's Media Center. The centre's central initiative is "Children's Voice", a radio programme completely created and headed by children and young people between the ages of 10 and 18. Key goals of the project include:
"Children's Voice" makes the role of children central. They serve as producers, editors, reporters, and presenters. The children learn how to create scripts, interviews, and video and radio programmes involving journalistic investigation on various social problems.
The radio programmes focus on issues like street children, violence and criminality, and happiness. For example "Street Children" uses interviews to explore the rights and concerns of children who live on the street. The purpose of "Criminality" is to draw attention to the problem of violence among children.
"Children's Voice" has developed in the following directions:
Children, Youth, Rights, Violence.
- giving children the opportunity to freely express their perspectives on - and, by extension, to help resolve - problems impacting their peers in the Ukraine
- fostering dialogue between adults and children
- advancing children's journalistic skills
- creating a mechanism for collaboration between government and commercial organisations, NGOs, mass media, and children who are concerned about children's rights, happiness, and intellectual development.
"Children's Voice" makes the role of children central. They serve as producers, editors, reporters, and presenters. The children learn how to create scripts, interviews, and video and radio programmes involving journalistic investigation on various social problems.
The radio programmes focus on issues like street children, violence and criminality, and happiness. For example "Street Children" uses interviews to explore the rights and concerns of children who live on the street. The purpose of "Criminality" is to draw attention to the problem of violence among children.
"Children's Voice" has developed in the following directions:
- Radio - producing more thematic programmes and broadcasting them on FM stations
- Internet - creating a website dedicated to the problems of observation of children's rights in the Ukraine. Features articles, photos, and summaries of radio programmes.
- Printed materials - creating children's pages within newspapers
- Public relations - preparating and holding presentations, as well as developing contacts with the mass media.
Children, Youth, Rights, Violence.
Key Points
Organisers explain the focus on children's rights by pointing to problems in the Ukraine like poverty, street children, juvenile delinquency, poor housing, violence, and environmental pollution. All these problems, they claim, have an impact on children's future growth and development. Bringing children's voices into the media, they say, may help draw attention to these problems.
This project was a winner of the competition "The Day of Innovative Ideas" held by World Bank and UNICEF. In 2002, it won the OneWorld/UNICEF Award for outstanding children's radio programme.
This project was a winner of the competition "The Day of Innovative Ideas" held by World Bank and UNICEF. In 2002, it won the OneWorld/UNICEF Award for outstanding children's radio programme.
Sources
Letter sent from Jenny Eschweiler to the Creative-Radio list server on May 27 2003
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