Hello Chioma,

These are excellent comments and questions and actually speak to the heart of what Shishu Kontho is aiming to achieve. The platform will aggregate knowledge from the perspective of children and relay this information to the relevant government departments. Initially this will be achieved by bringing together advocates from the National Children’s Parliament and government officials to review and respond to the challenges that are put forward by the children. However, as we build the evidence-base and demonstrate the relevance, importance and success of the model, ultimately we aim to embed this platform within existing city corporation practices. This would mean that problems that are raised across the platform are then sent directly across to the relevant teams within government departments that can then issue the ordinances to resolve the problem at hand. This will in part resolve two major problems: addressing the fractured communication flows that exist between communities and government departments, and ensuring that the voices of the most vulnerable are raised and heard and that locally adaptive solutions are adopted. Both the National Children’s Parliament and Save the Children have strong ties with a number of schools, media outlets, research institutions, local NGOs, and government departments that have enabled us over the years to support and achieve transformational changes for the communities that we work with. This platform will serve as an additional tool from which we can advocate for change for the most vulnerable and ensure that children’s needs are heard and their resilience built.