D. Driskell et al., Rhetoric, reality and resilience: overcoming obstacles to young people's participation in development, ENVIR URBAN, 13(1), 2001, pp. 77-89
This paper describes the difficult relationships among those implementing a
n action research project with children in a low-income settlement in Banga
lore (India), the distant and unresponsive bureaucracy of an international
funding agency, and the authoritarian management of the NGO through whom it
s money was channelled. This case study highlights the difficulties that in
ternational agencies face in operationalizing the principles of grassroots
participation that they officially endorse. The action research was one of
several projects within the Growing lip in Cities programme. It shows the d
ifficult circumstances under which so many young people live, including six
and seven-year-olds thrust into adult roles and lives cut short by disease
and violence. But it also shows their astonishing resilience and energy, s
elf-reliance and optimism. External agencies, from local governments and NG
Os to international funders, need to work with children to understand what
does land what does not) work for them. This means recognizing that they ar
e important actors in their own communities and that their insights, energy
and creativity should be fostered and supported rather than ignored.