Children’s Right to Play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide
IPA believes that the nature of play and its importance to children’s well-being is not sufficiently understood by governments worldwide.
In May 2008 IPA wrote to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to request that a General Comment be developed on article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This would elaborate on its purpose for the benefit of States Parties throughout the world and increase opportunities for compliance.
While this request was being considered by the UN Committee, IPA undertook a number of strategies to heighten awareness of the importance of play worldwide.
One was the launching of a series of Consultations on Children’s Right to Play in eight cities worldwide. Another was to commission a concept paper which was undertaken by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell, University of Gloucestershire, UK.
The complete paper as well as a summary of it is available here. (Full paper – Summary):
IPA is most grateful for the financial assistance of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and for their support of our goal to raise awareness of the importance of play in the lives of children throughout the world.
IPA Working Paper on the Children’s Right to Play (Dec2010f)
Introduction
The child’s right to play, leisure and recreation is set out in article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). While the Consultations described in this document acknowledged the importance, and overlap, of each of these elements, an emphasis was placed on the right to play as it is one of the least known, least understood, least recognised rights of children and consequently one of the most consistently ignored, undervalued and violated of children’s rights in the world today.
Early in 2008 the International Play Association: Promoting the Child’s Right to Play (IPA) entered a partnership with seven other international organisations to propose that the UNCRC organise a Day of Discussion and/or develop a General Comment on article 31 for the purpose of elaborating on its meaning and increasing state accountability with regard to compliance. The supporting organisations (now eight) are:
- ChildWatch International
- European Child Friendly Cities Network
- International Council on Children’s Play
- International Paediatrics Association
- International Toy Library Association
- Right to Play International
- World Leisure Association
- World Organisation for Early Childhood Education (OMEP).
In order to maintain the momentum and to gather material worldwide IPA and its partners organised the Global Consultations on Children’s Right to Play.
Three specific objectives were set:
- To mobilise a worldwide network of article 31 advocates and to harness expertise to raise awareness of the importance of play in the lives of children.
- To gather specific material demonstrating the infringement of the child’s right to play.
- To formulate practical recommendations for governments with regard to compliance with article 31.
Working with regional and national partners, IPA identified eight Consultation sites worldwide: Bangkok, Beirut, Johannesburg,Mexico City, Mumbai, Nairobi, Sofia and Tokyo. Following a careful planning and preparation process, consultations were held in these cities between January and June 2010.
Read the Global Consultation SUMMARY REPORT | FULL REPORT now available in the MEMBERS’ AREA
IPA held its 17th triennial conference in Hong Kong in January 2008. Following are the texts of two of the keynote addresses, summaries of which appear in the March edition of the IPA PlayRights Magazine.
– Children and the Right to Play
– Three Generations of Play in Taishido (PDF – Click Here)
(original published in the Intergenerational Journal, Penn State University)
IPA was instrumental in the inclusion of the word “play” in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In a keynotey address at its triennial conference in Hong Kong, Jaap Doek, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for seven years, urged IPA to take action to ensure more effective implementation of article 31.*
Report of Board and Council to the General Meeting
Presented by Tom Jambor, USA, Vice President
Overview:
The three year term beginning at the conference in Berlin was one of significant achievement for the IPA Board and Council. It is of course difficult to compare the work accomplished in a three year term with previous ones. But this term’s Board members would all agree that the 2005 – 2008 term was an extraordinary one – marked as it was by the completion of two major projects (Constitution Review and the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan) both of which strove to invulve the entire IPA membership.
Generally, an excellent working relationship was developed among Board members with each member making a significant contribution within his/her ‘portfulio’ and different areas of expertise. Kathy Wong’s Trojan efforts in relation to the organization of this conference have been phenomenal!
We remember our previous President, Jan van Gils, saying that he wished the Board could concentrate more on children’s play and less on organizational matters. But in order for IPA to be effective in promoting play internationally we need a well-organized and well-orchestrated Association with more active member participation. This is not easy to achieve. These last three years have been devoted to this challenging task.
This is a very brief summary of our progress this term:
- Constitution Review
The GM in Berlin set the scene for the three year term with a motion from the floor that there be a “complete review of the Constitution with the broadest possible invulvement from IPA members”. Theresa Casey (Scotland) headed a working group which applied itself to conducting an extensive consultation over a two year period.
- Strategic Plan
A high priority for this three-year term was to build on the Strategic Planning project initiated by Jan van Gils in the previous one. A workshop was organized for IPA members at the Berlin Conference, fullowed by a series of member surveys and discussions with Council representatives.
The emphasis on inclusion of all members in the development of the Strategic Plan and the consequent ongoing feedback from groups around the world was time consuming but rewarding. Over 200 members and 17 countries participated in the process from the initial workshop in Berlin to the development of the final draft in November 2007. A detailed record has been kept of the various stages in the development of the plan.
After two years of hard work the Strategic Plan was accepted at Monday’s Council meeting and implementation will now begin in full force. All members are invited to be in touch with their national representatives to see how they can assist in the implementation phase.
Members of the committee are:
- David Yearley (Chair) – England
- Valerie Fronczek – Canada
- Froukje Hajer – Netherlands
- Kathy Wong Kin-ho – Hong Kong
- Ric McConaghie – Australia
- Ute Navidi – England
- Guidelines and Pulicy Development
Board members have also worked hard this term to streamline the organization in terms of operation guidelines and pulicy development. For example:
- An Ethical Sponsorship Pulicy was developed and ratified by the Council in September 2006
- The Triennial Conference Guidelines were updated based on recent years’ experience.
- The Triennial Bid Application Process was formalized which included a revised application form and the development of a bid assessment toul.
- Forms for Nominations and Voting were re-designed, and material describing procedures developed.
- The Council Kit, a 25 page guide for IPA branches and groups around the world was reviewed and rewritten.
During the previous term a Board Operations Handbook was initiated. This has now become a (very large) binder of material – of all currently used IPA documents. Three of these have been produced which can be passed to future members of the Board.
- Communications
- PlayRights Magazine
A New PlayRights Magazine was launched in 2006 in response to members’ need for a broad-based News publication. So far three editions of the Magazine have been produced and another – which will focus on this conference – will be circulated at the end of February.
- PlayRights Journal
Thanks to Brian Ashley (Sweden) and Rhonda Clements (USA) three or four editions per year of the Journal have been either circulated in print or available through the website since the year 2000. Brian will now be retiring from this position and we will acknowledge his contribution a little later in the program.
- Website
The website received a “new look” about two years ago and is updated regularly. There are a number of recommended action steps within the Strategic Plan which will be addressed in this coming term.
- Promotional Material
In addition to the new magazine a number of items were produced for promotional purposes including bookmarks, banners, an advertisement for the conference program, and a new brochure, a copy of which you have in your conference material.
Brochure can be downloaded from the website www.ipaworld.org
- ICCP/IPA Book
We were pleased to have launched this term, the first joint ICCP/IPA publication on children’s play research. We hope this will be a regular project of the two organizations.
- Board and Council MeetingsBetween the Berlin and Hong Kong conferences, the Board has had two face to face meetings and two by teleconference. The Council met just once, in Bournemouth UK, in September 2006. We are grateful for the generous assistance of Kompan in making it possible for 17 countries to be represented at this meeting.
We have taken seriously the recommendations of member groups (indeed it is common sense) to use electronic means of communication for some Board meetings. The ambitious work of IPA definitely requires more than one meeting a year.
In conclusion, we know that IPA has the potential to be a driving force worldwide in the promotion of the importance of children’s play. To achieve this goal we need to orchestrate our efforts and support each other in many different ways. We believe that together we have prepared the right “road map” for this and we look forward to great results during the next three years, as we plan for IPA’s 50th Anniversary.
Respectfully Submitted
Board of Directors,
June, 2005 – January, 2008.
