No abstract

This introduction provides the rationale for the special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights on the topic of the children's right to participation and protection in international development and humanitarian efforts. It summarises selected contributions relating to an international conference entitled 'Facilitating Child Participation in International Child Protection' that took place 5-6 October 2015 at Ryerson University in Toronto (Canada). The concepts of child participation and child protection are explored. Then, the challenges and opportunities are highlighted regarding the actual and potential participatory role of children and young people in effective child protection. Finally, an overview of the articles included in this collection is provided.

Involving child and youth advisors in academic research about child participation: The child and youth advisory committees of the international and Canadian Child Rights Partnership', Children and youth services review.

The children's rights and child protection sectors are at a critical juncture: will they evolve to reflect and respond to changing conceptualisations in the 21st century or will they continue to reproduce 19th‐ and 20th‐century preoccupations with saving child victims? Informed by systematic reviews of the English‐ and Latin American academic literature in Spanish and Portuguese and key informant interviews with international stakeholders, this paper fosters global dialogue with some Global South and Global North perspectives about the interconnections of children's rights. It explores current conceptualisations of child participation and protection, and concludes that children's rights will only progress after recognition of limitations inherent to current conceptualisations.