During the 1990s, children's right to voice and political inclusion, as "citizens in the making," saw growing demand around the world. Particularly in Europe, there was a proliferation of "youth councils" or "children's councils," and then "children's governments" in schools. At the same time, international organizations also took these concerns into account, based on the premise that the right to participation and democratic expression is a fundamental condition for development and human dignity. It is with this in mind that the United Nations system, and UNICEF in particular, invested in the implementation of legal tools and mechanisms aimed at no longer excluding children from political expression and participation.
In this regard, the two international legal instruments that have particularly highlighted the issue of children's right to participation are those mentioned above. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/146 of 3 March 2010, paragraph 29, recalls the “essential role that educational institutions, community-based organizations and projects, as well as various local and national institutions, such as children’s organizations and parliaments, can play in ensuring the meaningful participation of children and, in this regard, encourages States to ensure the institutionalization of children’s participation and to promote their active consultation and the consideration of their views in all matters affecting them, taking into account their age, maturity and development.” Following the ratification of the CRC in 1993 and the CCDBEEE in 1997, Cameroon held its first session of a Children’s Parliament (CP) in Yaoundé on 16 June 1998, on the occasion of the International Children’s Day. UNICEF played a key role in spearheading this initiative, in collaboration with the offices of the Minister Delegate to the Presidency for Relations with the Assemblies (MINDEL), the Prime Minister's Office, the National Assembly, the Ministry of National Education (MINEDUC), the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS), and the Ministry of Communication (MINCOM).
It is important to emphasize that, for a long time, childhood and children attracted little attention. Frédérique Facq's work shows that children are unproductive, immature, physically weak, and contribute nothing to society. However, the situation seems different in Egypt. Egyptian mythology places particular emphasis on children's voice, particularly due to their gift of divination, which was absent in the Greco-Roman world. This concept appears to be shared in Roman mythology.
The overall objective of the Children's Parliament is to proactively provide children with an appropriate framework allowing them to exercise their rights to expression and participation; This is in line with the decision of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to make this tool a preferred means of fulfilling commitments under the CRC.
The specific objectives are as follows:
- To promote and disseminate children's rights;
- To introduce children to democratic practices;
- To teach children the values of hard work, tolerance, respect for others, and solidarity;
- To encourage children to freely formulate and express their concerns;
- To inform adults of children's specific concerns;
- To influence national policies and programs.