Choose a language
Listen toGirls
- Guidance on youth consultation
إرشادات خاصة بالاستشارات الشبابية
الاستماع إلى الفتيات
Ecouter les filles
- Guía para consultas a la juventud
Escuchemos a las Niñas
- Conseils sur la participation des jeunes
INTRODUCTION
We hope everyone who reads this tool, from a local leader to a Member Organisation's National Board, will be inspired to consult girls on matters that affect them.
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
WHY LISTEN TO GIRLS?
LEARNING FROM THE MOVEMENT
ABOUT THIS TOOL
We believe that practising good leadership will help all of us listen to girls better. You will see that some of our tips include mentions of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout leadership model and the six leadership mindsets. If you are not familiar with the Leadership Model or want to learn more, please read the Leadership Model Summary online.
You can use this tool in two different ways:
Make it 'REAL'
Follow steps one to eight
If you are already planning to consult girls and you have a process in place, this tool can help you to make your consultation more relevant, exciting, accessible and learner-led. Depending on your needs, you can pick and choose which sections of the tool to focus on independently. We suggest you briefly look at all sections, pick the ones that are most relevant to you, and answer the guiding questions with your consultation planning team to improve the quality of your consultation.
If you would like to consult girls, but you’re not sure where to start or what to take into account, you can read this tool throughout to help you plan your consultation. In that case, we suggest you use the different guiding questions to help your planning process. Try answering them with your consultation planning team, and take notes of your answers! This can work as a “quality checklist” that you can refer to throughout your consultation process.
Menu
A youth consultation will always be part of a bigger process: decision-making in the organisation, researching issues that matter to girls, planning a project, activity, advocacy campaign, etc. If you decide that you want to consult girls at some point in your process, you need to plan for it from the beginning and allow sufficient time to do it in a meaningful way.
Planning a youth consultation
In this section, we have defined the 8 steps you will need to take to run a meaningful youth consultation.
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Menu
Define your objectives
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
You have decided that you need to consult girls. Now you need to confirm the purpose of this consultation. What do you want to find out?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Relevant
Menu
Define the objectives of your consultation
Every youth consultation needs to have clear objectives defined from the start.
We need to know what we are asking, and how we are going to use the data we collect. And girls need to have a clear understanding of why we are consulting them, so they can hold us accountable.
Guiding questions:
- What is the purpose of your consultation?
- What do you want to find out about?
- What are you going to do with the information collected?
- In a week/month/year's time, how will girls see the impact of this consultation?
Menu
Build your planning team
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Invite girls and young women to be part of the planning team. They will provide valuable insights and ensure that the consultation is relevant to girls.
Who needs to be in your consultation planning team? What skills and personal qualities do you need? How will you involve girls in the planning as well?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Learner-Led
Menu
Involve girls in designing and planning the consultation
Guiding questions:
Direct involvement in a project is key to creating empowering, enabling learning experiences for girls.Providing space for girls to lead during the consultation process will increase their involvement and interest in the consultation by making them feel ownership, and develop a consultation that is truly responsive to their priorities.
It will also help make the consultation process more relevant, exciting and accessible by including diverse voices from the start. Use the guiding questions to clearly map out the role girls will have in the consultation.
- What level of girl engagement are you able to support? Will you be able to involve girls at all steps of the process or will you focus on a couple of key stages where you can truly confidently support girls to take the lead?
- How can you meaningfully involve girls in those stages, which include defining objectives, deciding on your approach and methods, planning the timeline and resources, identifying who you want to consult and how, collecting the data, processing it and disseminating your findings, and evaluating the consultation process?
- How can you make sure this is an empowering learning experience for the girls involved?
Example
Tips
Menu
Plan for a realistic timeline
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Don't forget to plan breathing room for factors that are not entirely in your control. This can include changes in your team's capacity, timelines and processes in your Association, girls' availability, communications calendars, etc. Build in sufficient time to include girls who might be harder to reach.
How much time do you need to allocate to the whole consultation process so you will get quality, useful and valuable results? What are all the variables you need to take into account?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Accessible
Menu
Ensure your consultation process is inclusive
Guiding questions:
Accessibility can take a lot of planning, it needs to be taken into account from the beginning of the process, and not as an afterthought. Rushing the process might lead to consulting only girls we can easily reach, and therefore making their participation tokenistic. We need to actively set up strategies to make sure that the group of girls we consult reflect the diversity of experiences that girls have in the world today.
- How can you reach girls that are not usually heard? Reflect on your potential blind spots: which girls might you not be thinking about? How can you make sure they are informed of the consultation taking place?
- How can you make sure that girls with different thinking styles can fully take part in your consultation?
- How can you make your consultation accessible to girls with different contexts? Think about geography, age, disability, internet access, ability to travel, languages spoken, etc. If there are stark inequalities amongst the girls you are trying to reach, you might need to carry out separate consultations.
- How will you make your consultation safe, inclusive and appropriate for girls from marginalised groups? What additional safeguarding measures might you need?
- How will you create a brave space, where all girls feel empowered to share their opinions freely?
Tips
Accessible
Menu
Support girls to make informed decisions
Accessibility does not stop at making sure that girls can materially answer our questions. We need to make sure they have all the tools they need to give an informed opinion.We need to give them time and space to explore the topic we are consulting them on, to think about it critically and to form their own views. This will help them feel confident in their opinions and decisions, and make the consultation more meaningful.
Guiding questions:
- What knowledge do girls need to answer the questions?
- Think about different types of knowledge: big picture vision, understanding of the context, of other people's perspectives, of consequences of the decisions taken, etc.
- How will you check that all participants have the essential understanding needed to answer questions fully?
Tips
Menu
Decide on your approach and methods
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Have you thought about using the U-Report tool? WAGGGS currently has a partnership with UNICEF to use U-Report as a youth consultation tool, both at global and national level. Learn more about the possibility to partner with UNICEF in your country to listen to girls.
What approach will be most relevant to what you want to find out? Will you have a quantitative or qualitative approach, or a mix of both? Will you organise your consultation online or face-to-face? Which consultation methods are most relevant to your objectives? You could think about traditional research methods such as surveys, focus group discussions, voting opportunities and interviews, but also more creative and participatory approaches.
Read more
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Tip: To explore different research methods and decide which ones are most suited to your needs, you can use the research section in our “Be the Change 2030” toolkit.
Exciting
Menu
Use creative, non-formal research methods
Guiding questions:
- Think about the research methods you want to use during your process. How can you use the Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method to make these methods more exciting?
- Think about ways that you might already be using everyday Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting activities to listen to girls.
- How can you use those activities and methods to collect and validate data, so the consultation feels fun and exciting?
- This could include: reflections, discussions and debates, voting opportunities in games and activities, creative outputs (journaling, drawings, etc.), active evaluation games, etc.
When we think about youth consultation and research, the first methods that come to mind are the traditional ones outlined below and mentioned in “Be the Change 2030”: surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, etc. While all of those methods are very effective, we can also be creative and use participatory, non-formal techniques to gather information from girls.
Read more
Example
Tips
Menu
Collect and record the information
Tip: Don't forget to check your Association's safeguarding policy. If you are consulting girls under 18, you will need to create ethical guidelines and protocols to ensure girls who take part in the consultation are doing so in a safe way.
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
What is the best way to collect the information you need? Who will be your data collectors? Do you need to build their capacity in data collection and research methods?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Exciting
Menu
Create incentives to participate
Girls want their voice to be heard, and if the consultation objectives are clear and relevant to them, chances are they will be keen to engage! However, multiple factors such as time or availability may deter them from taking part.We can find innovative ways to motivate them to share their ideas, by creating perks for those who take part in the consultation. Some ideas could be:
Guiding questions:
- How can you motivate girls to take part in a fun and meaningful way?
- How can you make perks relevant and exciting to girls?
- Giving early access to an event, an opportunity or a resource
- Creating a badge or sticker for taking part in the consultation
Example
Tips
Menu
Process and disseminate your findings
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Who will analyse the results? When are you going to share your findings and with whom?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Relevant
Menu
Share your findings with girls
Guiding questions:
While youth consultation should always be relevant to us, we need to make sure that it is also relevant to the young people we consult.Girls should see that their participation has made a tangible difference in their life and the life of other girls.
Think about how you can share your findings and the impact they are going to have.
- How are you going to disseminate your findings and how are you going to make sure girls have access to them?
- How can you inspire and support girls to use your findings in their own activities and projects (this could be to influence how things are done in their unit, to create an advocacy campaign, etc.)?
Example
Menu
Make good use of the findings
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Now , it is time to use the results of the consultation for what you had planned in the first step!How are you using the findings from your consultation? How will girls be able to see the difference their views have made? How can girls explore the results of the consultation in an age-appropriate matter?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Learner-Led
Menu
Listen actively to what girls are saying
This might seem obvious, but it is possibly the most crucial element of a meaningful youth consultation.
If we're not genuinely interested in what girls have to say, or are not committed to taking into account their perspectives, there is no point in consulting them at all.
A youth consultation is not a way to endorse our own ideas! We need to keep an open mind and be ready to actively listen and take into account girls' input and feedback, even if it goes into a different direction than what we had imagined.
Guiding questions:
- How can you make sure your consultation process, approach, methods, questions, etc. are as neutral as possible? How can you guarantee they will allow a varied range of opinions?
- What internal biases might be influencing how you view the results of the consultation? How can you avoid confirmation bias?
- What will you do if the results of the consultation are completely unexpected?
Tips
Menu
Tip: Don't forget to ask girls what they thought of the process, and be ready to accept their feedback! Make recommendations for your next consultation, of things that worked well and things you would do differently.
Evaluate your process
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Who should you involve in your evaluation? How will you share the results of your evaluation with the relevant people and so everyone can learn from your consultation experience?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Menu
In this section, we will give you some tips to make your consultation more Relevant, Exciting, Accessible, and Learner-Led.
Making youth consultation ‘REAL’
Consultation and research in general can be seen as pretty dull processes.
We believe that we can make it a fun, educational experience for all involved by using our Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method and practising leadership.
Tip: Think about how these four elements intersect and will have an effect on each other. For example, if you decide to run your consultation online to make it more accessible to a certain group of girls who cannot travel, how will that affect how exciting your consultation is?
Relevant
Menu
According to a U-Report survey, 55% of girls and young women don't feel included in decisions that affect them*.
Girls want to have a say in decisions that affect them, and many don’t think they have that possibility right now.We need to give them opportunities to express themselves on topics that matter to them and that will make a difference in their lives.
Whether it is about asking them what kind of Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting activities are interesting to them, or hearing what they would like to change about the world and how we can help, we need to consult girls on issues that are relevant to their interests, needs and aspirations.
Relevant
Menu
Define the objectives of your consultation
Every youth consultation needs to have clear objectives defined from the start.
We need to know what we are asking, and how we are going to use the data we collect. And girls need to have a clear understanding of why we are consulting them, so they can hold us accountable.
Guiding questions:
- What is the purpose of your consultation?
- What do you want to find out about?
- What are you going to do with the information collected?
- In a week/month/year's time, how will girls see the impact of this consultation?
Relevant
Menu
Share your findings with girls
Guiding questions:
While youth consultation should always be relevant to us, we need to make sure that it is also relevant to the young people we consult.Girls should see that their participation has made a tangible difference in their life and the life of other girls.
Think about how you can share your findings and the impact they are going to have.
- How are you going to disseminate your findings and how are you going to make sure girls have access to them?
- How can you inspire and support girls to use your findings in their own activities and projects (this could be to influence how things are done in their unit, to create an advocacy campaign, etc.)?
Example
Exciting
Menu
A quality Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting activity should always be fun - and youth consultation should be no exception!
We can make sure girls are excited to make their voice heard, by making consultation innovative, active and enjoyable.
Exciting
Menu
Use creative, non-formal research methods
Guiding questions:
- Think about the research methods you want to use during your process. How can you use the Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method to make these methods more exciting?
- Think about ways that you might already be using everyday Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting activities to listen to girls.
- How can you use those activities and methods to collect and validate data, so the consultation feels fun and exciting?
- This could include: reflections, discussions and debates, voting opportunities in games and activities, creative outputs (journaling, drawings, etc.), active evaluation games, etc.
When we think about youth consultation and research, the first methods that come to mind are the traditional ones outlined below and mentioned in “Be the Change 2030”: surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, etc. While all of those methods are very effective, we can also be creative and use participatory, non-formal techniques to gather information from girls.
Read more
Example
Tips
Exciting
Menu
Create incentives to participate
Girls want their voice to be heard, and if the consultation objectives are clear and relevant to them, chances are they will be keen to engage! However, multiple factors such as time or availability may deter them from taking part.We can find innovative ways to motivate them to share their ideas, by creating perks for those who take part in the consultation. Some ideas could be:
Guiding questions:
- How can you motivate girls to take part in a fun and meaningful way?
- How can you make perks relevant and exciting to girls?
- Giving early access to an event, an opportunity or a resource
- Creating a badge or sticker for taking part in the consultation
Example
Tips
Accessible
Menu
When asked; "What is your biggest barrier to being involved in in decision making?"
Lack of accessibility is an important obstacle in girls' participation: what is the point of speaking out if no one is here to listen? We need to make sure that when we consult girls, every and any girl can take part and feels confident to do so, whatever her personal circumstances are.
Young women, 18-30 years old, said
Girls, 13-17 years old, said
the lack of access to decision-makers
their age
32%
39%
Accessible
Menu
Ensure your consultation process is inclusive
Guiding questions:
Accessibility can take a lot of planning, it needs to be taken into account from the beginning of the process, and not as an afterthought. Rushing the process might lead to consulting only girls we can easily reach, and therefore making their participation tokenistic. We need to actively set up strategies to make sure that the group of girls we consult reflect the diversity of experiences that girls have in the world today.
- How can you reach girls that are not usually heard? Reflect on your potential blind spots: which girls might you not be thinking about? How can you make sure they are informed of the consultation taking place?
- How can you make sure that girls with different thinking styles can fully take part in your consultation?
- How can you make your consultation accessible to girls with different contexts? Think about geography, age, disability, internet access, ability to travel, languages spoken, etc. If there are stark inequalities amongst the girls you are trying to reach, you might need to carry out separate consultations.
- How will you make your consultation safe, inclusive and appropriate for girls from marginalised groups? What additional safeguarding measures might you need?
- How will you create a brave space, where all girls feel empowered to share their opinions freely?
Tips
Accessible
Menu
Support girls to make informed decisions
Accessibility does not stop at making sure that girls can materially answer our questions. We need to make sure they have all the tools they need to give an informed opinion.We need to give them time and space to explore the topic we are consulting them on, to think about it critically and to form their own views. This will help them feel confident in their opinions and decisions, and make the consultation more meaningful.
Guiding questions:
- What knowledge do girls need to answer the questions?
- Think about different types of knowledge: big picture vision, understanding of the context, of other people's perspectives, of consequences of the decisions taken, etc.
- How will you check that all participants have the essential understanding needed to answer questions fully?
Tips
Learner-Led
Menu
Self-directed learning is a key component of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method.
Activities and opportunities should be led by girls, especially where they are directly concerned, like in the case of a youth consultation.
We need to create an open, enabling environment where they can take the lead and be heard.
Learner-Led
Menu
Involve girls in designing and planning the consultation
Guiding questions:
Direct involvement in a project is key to creating empowering, enabling learning experiences for girls.Providing space for girls to lead during the consultation process will increase their involvement and interest in the consultation by making them feel ownership, and develop a consultation that is truly responsive to their priorities.
It will also help make the consultation process more relevant, exciting and accessible by including diverse voices from the start. Use the guiding questions to clearly map out the role girls will have in the consultation.
- What level of girl engagement are you able to support? Will you be able to involve girls at all steps of the process or will you focus on a couple of key stages where you can truly confidently support girls to take the lead?
- How can you meaningfully involve girls in those stages, which include defining objectives, deciding on your approach and methods, planning the timeline and resources, identifying who you want to consult and how, collecting the data, processing it and disseminating your findings, and evaluating the consultation process?
- How can you make sure this is an empowering learning experience for the girls involved?
Example
Tips
Learner-Led
Menu
Listen actively to what girls are saying
This might seem obvious, but it is possibly the most crucial element of a meaningful youth consultation.
If we're not genuinely interested in what girls have to say, or are not committed to taking into account their perspectives, there is no point in consulting them at all.
A youth consultation is not a way to endorse our own ideas! We need to keep an open mind and be ready to actively listen and take into account girls' input and feedback, even if it goes into a different direction than what we had imagined.
Guiding questions:
- How can you make sure your consultation process, approach, methods, questions, etc. are as neutral as possible? How can you guarantee they will allow a varied range of opinions?
- What internal biases might be influencing how you view the results of the consultation? How can you avoid confirmation bias?
- What will you do if the results of the consultation are completely unexpected?
Tips
Menu
Consultation is a form of youth participation, and youth participation is only one way to involve girls in decision-making and planning. There are ways to engage girls more in depth, whether it is through joint decision-making, collaboration or youth-led initiatives.
Going further
We believe in the power of girl-led. Girls and young women should be actively engaged and be able to direct environments, projects, activities or experiences they're involved in to meet their personal needs and interests.
Menu
How can you use U-report nationally?
U-Report at national level
In 2016, WAGGGS and UNICEF partnered together around U-Report to collect and amplify girls' voices. U-Report is a mobile and youth empowerment platform created to gather young people’s views and opinions. In an easy and youth-friendly way, girls can answer to short and interactive polls via Messenger, Whatsapp or Viber. Participation is free, safe and 100% confidential. In the couple of minutes that it takes to complete a poll, girls are invited to engage directly on questions relating to their lived experiences and raise their voices!
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
Menu
Resource Library
“Hear Me Now” Activity pack
WAGGGS Resource
Advocacy Toolkit “For Her World”
WAGGGS Resource
info
info
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
LEADERSHIP MODEL SUMMARY
WAGGGS Resource
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
WAGGGS Resource
info
info
be the change 2030
WAGGGS Resource
info
finding our path
WAGGGS Resource
info
Menu
Resource Library
The resources referenced below were produced by organisations external to WAGGGS and are available in English only. Your web browser may be able to translate these for you.
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
External Resource
External Resource
Consultation Toolkit: A practical guide to consulting with children and young people on policy related issues. Scottish Executive’s Action Programme for Youth, 2009
The Institute of Development Studies: (IDS) Participatory Methods Resources Facilitating workshops for the co-generation of knowledge: 21 tips
info
info
info
Menu
Credits
Written By: Elsa Cardona
With the support of: Inês Gonçalves, Ayowunmi Nuga and Mishka Martin Graphics by: Kritika Trehan & Rae Zachariah
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
EN_ Listen to Girls - IWD 2021
WAGGGS
Created on February 23, 2021
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
Explore all templates
Transcript
Choose a language
Listen toGirls
- Guidance on youth consultation
إرشادات خاصة بالاستشارات الشبابية
الاستماع إلى الفتيات
Ecouter les filles
- Guía para consultas a la juventud
Escuchemos a las Niñas
- Conseils sur la participation des jeunes
INTRODUCTION
We hope everyone who reads this tool, from a local leader to a Member Organisation's National Board, will be inspired to consult girls on matters that affect them.
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
WHY LISTEN TO GIRLS?
LEARNING FROM THE MOVEMENT
ABOUT THIS TOOL
We believe that practising good leadership will help all of us listen to girls better. You will see that some of our tips include mentions of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout leadership model and the six leadership mindsets. If you are not familiar with the Leadership Model or want to learn more, please read the Leadership Model Summary online.
You can use this tool in two different ways:
Make it 'REAL'
Follow steps one to eight
If you are already planning to consult girls and you have a process in place, this tool can help you to make your consultation more relevant, exciting, accessible and learner-led. Depending on your needs, you can pick and choose which sections of the tool to focus on independently. We suggest you briefly look at all sections, pick the ones that are most relevant to you, and answer the guiding questions with your consultation planning team to improve the quality of your consultation.
If you would like to consult girls, but you’re not sure where to start or what to take into account, you can read this tool throughout to help you plan your consultation. In that case, we suggest you use the different guiding questions to help your planning process. Try answering them with your consultation planning team, and take notes of your answers! This can work as a “quality checklist” that you can refer to throughout your consultation process.
Menu
A youth consultation will always be part of a bigger process: decision-making in the organisation, researching issues that matter to girls, planning a project, activity, advocacy campaign, etc. If you decide that you want to consult girls at some point in your process, you need to plan for it from the beginning and allow sufficient time to do it in a meaningful way.
Planning a youth consultation
In this section, we have defined the 8 steps you will need to take to run a meaningful youth consultation.
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Menu
Define your objectives
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
You have decided that you need to consult girls. Now you need to confirm the purpose of this consultation. What do you want to find out?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Relevant
Menu
Define the objectives of your consultation
Every youth consultation needs to have clear objectives defined from the start. We need to know what we are asking, and how we are going to use the data we collect. And girls need to have a clear understanding of why we are consulting them, so they can hold us accountable.
Guiding questions:
Menu
Build your planning team
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Invite girls and young women to be part of the planning team. They will provide valuable insights and ensure that the consultation is relevant to girls.
Who needs to be in your consultation planning team? What skills and personal qualities do you need? How will you involve girls in the planning as well?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Learner-Led
Menu
Involve girls in designing and planning the consultation
Guiding questions:
Direct involvement in a project is key to creating empowering, enabling learning experiences for girls.Providing space for girls to lead during the consultation process will increase their involvement and interest in the consultation by making them feel ownership, and develop a consultation that is truly responsive to their priorities. It will also help make the consultation process more relevant, exciting and accessible by including diverse voices from the start. Use the guiding questions to clearly map out the role girls will have in the consultation.
Example
Tips
Menu
Plan for a realistic timeline
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Don't forget to plan breathing room for factors that are not entirely in your control. This can include changes in your team's capacity, timelines and processes in your Association, girls' availability, communications calendars, etc. Build in sufficient time to include girls who might be harder to reach.
How much time do you need to allocate to the whole consultation process so you will get quality, useful and valuable results? What are all the variables you need to take into account?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Accessible
Menu
Ensure your consultation process is inclusive
Guiding questions:
Accessibility can take a lot of planning, it needs to be taken into account from the beginning of the process, and not as an afterthought. Rushing the process might lead to consulting only girls we can easily reach, and therefore making their participation tokenistic. We need to actively set up strategies to make sure that the group of girls we consult reflect the diversity of experiences that girls have in the world today.
Tips
Accessible
Menu
Support girls to make informed decisions
Accessibility does not stop at making sure that girls can materially answer our questions. We need to make sure they have all the tools they need to give an informed opinion.We need to give them time and space to explore the topic we are consulting them on, to think about it critically and to form their own views. This will help them feel confident in their opinions and decisions, and make the consultation more meaningful.
Guiding questions:
Tips
Menu
Decide on your approach and methods
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Tip: Have you thought about using the U-Report tool? WAGGGS currently has a partnership with UNICEF to use U-Report as a youth consultation tool, both at global and national level. Learn more about the possibility to partner with UNICEF in your country to listen to girls.
What approach will be most relevant to what you want to find out? Will you have a quantitative or qualitative approach, or a mix of both? Will you organise your consultation online or face-to-face? Which consultation methods are most relevant to your objectives? You could think about traditional research methods such as surveys, focus group discussions, voting opportunities and interviews, but also more creative and participatory approaches.
Read more
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Tip: To explore different research methods and decide which ones are most suited to your needs, you can use the research section in our “Be the Change 2030” toolkit.
Exciting
Menu
Use creative, non-formal research methods
Guiding questions:
When we think about youth consultation and research, the first methods that come to mind are the traditional ones outlined below and mentioned in “Be the Change 2030”: surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, etc. While all of those methods are very effective, we can also be creative and use participatory, non-formal techniques to gather information from girls.
Read more
Example
Tips
Menu
Collect and record the information
Tip: Don't forget to check your Association's safeguarding policy. If you are consulting girls under 18, you will need to create ethical guidelines and protocols to ensure girls who take part in the consultation are doing so in a safe way.
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
What is the best way to collect the information you need? Who will be your data collectors? Do you need to build their capacity in data collection and research methods?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Exciting
Menu
Create incentives to participate
Girls want their voice to be heard, and if the consultation objectives are clear and relevant to them, chances are they will be keen to engage! However, multiple factors such as time or availability may deter them from taking part.We can find innovative ways to motivate them to share their ideas, by creating perks for those who take part in the consultation. Some ideas could be:
Guiding questions:
Example
Tips
Menu
Process and disseminate your findings
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Who will analyse the results? When are you going to share your findings and with whom?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Relevant
Menu
Share your findings with girls
Guiding questions:
While youth consultation should always be relevant to us, we need to make sure that it is also relevant to the young people we consult.Girls should see that their participation has made a tangible difference in their life and the life of other girls. Think about how you can share your findings and the impact they are going to have.
Example
Menu
Make good use of the findings
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Now , it is time to use the results of the consultation for what you had planned in the first step!How are you using the findings from your consultation? How will girls be able to see the difference their views have made? How can girls explore the results of the consultation in an age-appropriate matter?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Learner-Led
Menu
Listen actively to what girls are saying
This might seem obvious, but it is possibly the most crucial element of a meaningful youth consultation. If we're not genuinely interested in what girls have to say, or are not committed to taking into account their perspectives, there is no point in consulting them at all. A youth consultation is not a way to endorse our own ideas! We need to keep an open mind and be ready to actively listen and take into account girls' input and feedback, even if it goes into a different direction than what we had imagined.
Guiding questions:
Tips
Menu
Tip: Don't forget to ask girls what they thought of the process, and be ready to accept their feedback! Make recommendations for your next consultation, of things that worked well and things you would do differently.
Evaluate your process
8 steps for a meaningful consultation
Who should you involve in your evaluation? How will you share the results of your evaluation with the relevant people and so everyone can learn from your consultation experience?
Evaluate the process
Make good use of the findings
Process the results and disseminate your findings
Decide on your approach and methods
Collect and record the information
Plan for a realistic timeline
Build your planning team
Define your objectives
Menu
In this section, we will give you some tips to make your consultation more Relevant, Exciting, Accessible, and Learner-Led.
Making youth consultation ‘REAL’
Consultation and research in general can be seen as pretty dull processes. We believe that we can make it a fun, educational experience for all involved by using our Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method and practising leadership.
Tip: Think about how these four elements intersect and will have an effect on each other. For example, if you decide to run your consultation online to make it more accessible to a certain group of girls who cannot travel, how will that affect how exciting your consultation is?
Relevant
Menu
According to a U-Report survey, 55% of girls and young women don't feel included in decisions that affect them*.
Girls want to have a say in decisions that affect them, and many don’t think they have that possibility right now.We need to give them opportunities to express themselves on topics that matter to them and that will make a difference in their lives.
Whether it is about asking them what kind of Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting activities are interesting to them, or hearing what they would like to change about the world and how we can help, we need to consult girls on issues that are relevant to their interests, needs and aspirations.
Relevant
Menu
Define the objectives of your consultation
Every youth consultation needs to have clear objectives defined from the start. We need to know what we are asking, and how we are going to use the data we collect. And girls need to have a clear understanding of why we are consulting them, so they can hold us accountable.
Guiding questions:
Relevant
Menu
Share your findings with girls
Guiding questions:
While youth consultation should always be relevant to us, we need to make sure that it is also relevant to the young people we consult.Girls should see that their participation has made a tangible difference in their life and the life of other girls. Think about how you can share your findings and the impact they are going to have.
Example
Exciting
Menu
A quality Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting activity should always be fun - and youth consultation should be no exception! We can make sure girls are excited to make their voice heard, by making consultation innovative, active and enjoyable.
Exciting
Menu
Use creative, non-formal research methods
Guiding questions:
When we think about youth consultation and research, the first methods that come to mind are the traditional ones outlined below and mentioned in “Be the Change 2030”: surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, etc. While all of those methods are very effective, we can also be creative and use participatory, non-formal techniques to gather information from girls.
Read more
Example
Tips
Exciting
Menu
Create incentives to participate
Girls want their voice to be heard, and if the consultation objectives are clear and relevant to them, chances are they will be keen to engage! However, multiple factors such as time or availability may deter them from taking part.We can find innovative ways to motivate them to share their ideas, by creating perks for those who take part in the consultation. Some ideas could be:
Guiding questions:
Example
Tips
Accessible
Menu
When asked; "What is your biggest barrier to being involved in in decision making?"
Lack of accessibility is an important obstacle in girls' participation: what is the point of speaking out if no one is here to listen? We need to make sure that when we consult girls, every and any girl can take part and feels confident to do so, whatever her personal circumstances are.
Young women, 18-30 years old, said
Girls, 13-17 years old, said
the lack of access to decision-makers
their age
32%
39%
Accessible
Menu
Ensure your consultation process is inclusive
Guiding questions:
Accessibility can take a lot of planning, it needs to be taken into account from the beginning of the process, and not as an afterthought. Rushing the process might lead to consulting only girls we can easily reach, and therefore making their participation tokenistic. We need to actively set up strategies to make sure that the group of girls we consult reflect the diversity of experiences that girls have in the world today.
Tips
Accessible
Menu
Support girls to make informed decisions
Accessibility does not stop at making sure that girls can materially answer our questions. We need to make sure they have all the tools they need to give an informed opinion.We need to give them time and space to explore the topic we are consulting them on, to think about it critically and to form their own views. This will help them feel confident in their opinions and decisions, and make the consultation more meaningful.
Guiding questions:
Tips
Learner-Led
Menu
Self-directed learning is a key component of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout educational method. Activities and opportunities should be led by girls, especially where they are directly concerned, like in the case of a youth consultation. We need to create an open, enabling environment where they can take the lead and be heard.
Learner-Led
Menu
Involve girls in designing and planning the consultation
Guiding questions:
Direct involvement in a project is key to creating empowering, enabling learning experiences for girls.Providing space for girls to lead during the consultation process will increase their involvement and interest in the consultation by making them feel ownership, and develop a consultation that is truly responsive to their priorities. It will also help make the consultation process more relevant, exciting and accessible by including diverse voices from the start. Use the guiding questions to clearly map out the role girls will have in the consultation.
Example
Tips
Learner-Led
Menu
Listen actively to what girls are saying
This might seem obvious, but it is possibly the most crucial element of a meaningful youth consultation. If we're not genuinely interested in what girls have to say, or are not committed to taking into account their perspectives, there is no point in consulting them at all. A youth consultation is not a way to endorse our own ideas! We need to keep an open mind and be ready to actively listen and take into account girls' input and feedback, even if it goes into a different direction than what we had imagined.
Guiding questions:
Tips
Menu
Consultation is a form of youth participation, and youth participation is only one way to involve girls in decision-making and planning. There are ways to engage girls more in depth, whether it is through joint decision-making, collaboration or youth-led initiatives.
Going further
We believe in the power of girl-led. Girls and young women should be actively engaged and be able to direct environments, projects, activities or experiences they're involved in to meet their personal needs and interests.
Menu
How can you use U-report nationally?
U-Report at national level
In 2016, WAGGGS and UNICEF partnered together around U-Report to collect and amplify girls' voices. U-Report is a mobile and youth empowerment platform created to gather young people’s views and opinions. In an easy and youth-friendly way, girls can answer to short and interactive polls via Messenger, Whatsapp or Viber. Participation is free, safe and 100% confidential. In the couple of minutes that it takes to complete a poll, girls are invited to engage directly on questions relating to their lived experiences and raise their voices!
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
Menu
Resource Library
“Hear Me Now” Activity pack
WAGGGS Resource
Advocacy Toolkit “For Her World”
WAGGGS Resource
info
info
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
LEADERSHIP MODEL SUMMARY
WAGGGS Resource
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
WAGGGS Resource
info
info
be the change 2030
WAGGGS Resource
info
finding our path
WAGGGS Resource
info
Menu
Resource Library
The resources referenced below were produced by organisations external to WAGGGS and are available in English only. Your web browser may be able to translate these for you.
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help
External Resource
External Resource
Consultation Toolkit: A practical guide to consulting with children and young people on policy related issues. Scottish Executive’s Action Programme for Youth, 2009
The Institute of Development Studies: (IDS) Participatory Methods Resources Facilitating workshops for the co-generation of knowledge: 21 tips
info
info
info
Menu
Credits
Written By: Elsa Cardona With the support of: Inês Gonçalves, Ayowunmi Nuga and Mishka Martin Graphics by: Kritika Trehan & Rae Zachariah
Need support? Contact WAGGGS, we’re here to help