Child Participation Assessment Tool: How we did this in Portugal
In Portugal, the Project CP4Europe resulted in the implementation of the CPAT and in the production of a White Paper on Child Participation in Portugal.
National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and the Protection of Children and Young People
The right of children to be heard, to participate and have their opinions taken in due account in all matters that affect them has been addressed in some projects and initiatives coordinated and implemented by the CNPDPCJ since 2017. Once the aims of the Council of Europe and the European Union in the joint project “CP4 Europe - Strengthening the National Child Participation Framework and Action in Europe” seemed to be in line with those pursued by the CNPDPCJ in the recent past, the CNPDPCJ decided to apply and was successfully selected to represent Portugal as one of the five partner countries.
As part of Action Group 1, Portugal applied the CPAT to the national context. The consultation process with both children and professionals working with and/or for children in governmental and non-governmental entities was organized by the CNPDPCJ on all 10 indicators of the CPAT, as opposed to just some of them as proposed in that tool.
The CNPDPCJ resourced to the members of its National Council to reach out to professionals of relevant national stakeholders working with and/or for children, which also operate in the field of the promotion of the rights and the protection of children and young people in Portugal. Requests for information were sent out by the CNPDPCJ and written contributions were received from respondent entities. In parallel, the CNPDPCJ endeavored to reach out to children and young people with materials developed in child-friendly language, through various means and channels, including by collaborating with partner organizations to carry out consultations with focus groups of children and young people.
The consultation process with both children and professionals working with and/or for children in governmental and non-governmental entities was organized by the National Commission, regarding all 10 indicators of the CPAT. Adaptations were duly made while preparing the questionnaires, in order to meet the specific needs deriving from the context of application.
An adapted methodology was developed by the CNPDPCJ, due to the circumstances resulting from the management, by the Portuguese government, of the situation caused by the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, led to the impossibility to carry out all sessions in-person as proposed in the CPAT, especially when considering the time frame available. The CNPDPCJ thus planned consultation sessions in-person, online and in hybrid format, facilitated some sessions by itself and others in collaboration with professionals of entities that work directly with children and who were informed and trained by the CNPDPCJ on the Project CP4Europe. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were carried out on the data collected from all sources and a final report was elaborated.
A White Paper on Child Participation in Portugal was produced upon the results of the national report on the implementation of the CPAT.
The assessment of the indicators by children and by institutional stakeholders is coincident in some cases and differ in others. Space for further improvement is available.
Feedback to children and institutional stakeholders on the results of the application of the CPAT to the Portuguese context will be provided by the CNPDPCJ in online sessions as soon as possible.
Countries need to be aware of their national context as for the CPAT to be deemed useful.
