「有意義」的兒少參與：以我國地方兒少代表制度為例

“Meaningful Participation”in Local Governance:A Preliminary Examination of Children’s Representation in Municipal Affairs

自 2011 年〈兒童及少年福利與權益保障法〉修法以來，我國即以法律明文來保障兒少就與其相關之公共政策得參與並表達意見的權利，目前全台 22 個縣市皆已陸續遴選並設置縣市兒少代表。本文由兒童權利公約第 12 條所保障之兒少被傾聽之權利及兒少「有意義」參與的角度切入，同時透過與五縣市兒少代表機制參與者（包括前任兒少代表、政府承辦人員及民間培力單位）進行深入訪談及焦點座談，嘗試思考公約理念如何落實至國內兒少參與制度之設計。 本文於釐清「有意義」之兒少參與的實質意涵及要素後，就現行兒少代表機制提出以下建言：（1）本文所涵蓋之縣市兒少代表的運作與成果皆呈現出圍繞於「兒童及少年福利促進委員會」提案之單一模式，該模式雖具有明確及容易操作的優點，然卻未能兼顧不同兒少代表的需求及能力，以致無法讓兒少得以更適合其年齡的方式來發聲；（2）針對機制之評估，政府則應思考如何就兒少代表本身及社區更廣泛的影響層面，包含兒少的自我價值感、是否確實被認真看待、其參與是否有影響力等核心項目納入評估方向，以作為日後辨識機制是否有所成效之基礎資料；（3）回歸參與的理念，在完整且透明之資訊下，強化兒少代表參與過程中與成人的雙向溝通與相互尊重。期盼在一個更彈性多元並適合不同族群與年齡兒少的機制設計下，兒少代表能感受到一個友善、而非充斥著「成人傲慢」的發聲空間。

Following the amendment of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act in 2011, children’s right to participate in public affairs has been accorded legal status in Taiwan. At present, all 22 municipalities in Taiwan have organized “children’s representatives” who may participate in local governance and offer their collective voice on policies affecting children. This article starts by overviewing the rights to be heard and participate, as guaranteed by article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is followed by a summary of the research results gathered from in-depth interviews and a focused group interview with municipal children’s representatives. This article makes the following recommendations, encompassing the core values of diversity and child-friendliness, to enable children’s representatives to engage in a meaningful way with their local governance debate and decisionmaking processes. (1) The emphasis on raising proposals neglects the needs of children’s representatives with special needs or vulnerable backgrounds. The government is recommended to allow children’s representatives to make their views heard in more diverse ways. (2) The government should rethink the focus of its evaluation and monitoring approaches for this participation mechanism. Instead, children’s representatives’ self-worth and self-esteem, whether their views are taken seriously and the impact of their participation, should all be considered as potential outcome indicators. The exchange of information and transparency between adult and children’s representatives should be strengthened, in order to cultivate an environment of mutual respect among participants.