We are pleased to announce the publication of Deliverable 2.2 of the Our Voices project: “Minimum Support
Standards for Young Carers and Child Participation.”
This public document represents a key milestone of the project and builds on the first phase of work carried
out under Work Package 2, which focused on mapping existing child participation mechanisms across
partner countries and at EU level. Through a Rapid Realist Review of both scientific and grey literature, the
project analysed current practices, gaps, and challenges related to the participation of young carers (YCs) and
other vulnerable groups of children.
The findings highlight that, across Europe, child participation mechanisms are often consultative in nature
and risk becoming tokenistic, with limited power-sharing and insufficient follow-up. Young carers in
particular remain largely unrecognised in national legislation and policies, and face systemic and individual
barriers to meaningful participation, including lack of accessible information, limited formalised procedures,
stigma, time constraints due to caring responsibilities, and weak complaint mechanisms.
Deliverable 2.2 addresses these challenges by outlining essential minimum support standards to ensure safe
spaces, genuine voice, responsive audiences, and real influence for young carers in decisions affecting their
lives. The document provides practical guidance for organisations, institutions and professionals working in
social welfare, education, health and youth services, promoting a rights-based and inclusive approach
grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
This report is available in:
English
Bulgarian
Dutch
Italian
Slovenian
Swedish.