12 August 2015 is International Youth Day and this year's theme is 'Youth Civic Engagement'. The engagement and participation of youth is essential to achieve sustainable development, yet often the opportunities for youth to engage politically, economically and socially are low or non-existent.
Without special attention to the opinions of children—as expressed at home and in schools, in local communities and even in governments—children's views go unheard on the many important issues that affect them now or will affect them in the future.
Ending the sexual exploitation of children and youth in prostitution, pornography and trafficking requires child and youth participation to ensure that their voices are being heard and considered in the decisions that affect their lives. ECPAT is committed to mainstreaming child participation in our programmes, projects, activities and governance, which aims for the voices of victims to be heard in all areas of concern and at all levels.
For more information about #YOUTHDAY events, follow the link here.