Children aren’t crying wolf! The Pact of the Future must include them.

Dana Buzducea urges government leaders to heed civil society’s call to respond to children’s voices as they draw up the Pact of the Future.  

19 June, 2024 

There’s a well-known fable about the boy who tricked his village multiple times into believing wolves were coming. When a wolf finally did arrive, the boy called for help once again, but the villagers no longer believed him, and the wolf gobbled him up. 

When it comes to the devastating impact of poverty and injustice children have never “cried wolf”! The threats to their health and wellbeing have been all too real: extreme hunger, violence, undrinkable water, poor access to education and healthcare, sexual abuse and tragically much more.  

Civil society has been listening to the cries of children for decades and we, in turn, have brought those cries to you, leaders at every level. We have even helped children attend decision-making fora to tell you themselves how bad things are and what they think needs to be done about it.  

It’s happening again! 

Before 2020 it looked like those cries were being heard; the data showed that things were gradually improving for children worldwide. Then COVID, the climate crisis, conflict and the cost of food hit hard, reversing the advances we all fought for. Now, the chances of achieving all the SDGs are slim; poverty and injustice once again stalk the world’s children. And civil society is once again forced to fill our lungs ready get your attention. 

Why? Because you have started writing a document, a pact, that will determine our world’s future beyond 2030. But this Pact of the Future does not currently include any mention of children! The Pact aims to re-energise international consensus and cooperation around existing agreements and commitments to deliver a better present and safeguard the future for our world.  

Yet, United Nations Member States, if you make the mistake of leaving children out, countries will simply not be able to properly plan for the future, address new challenges, or achieve the 2030 Agenda. Children represent one-third of the world’s population, and an estimated 4.2 billion children are expected to be born over the next 30 years. Shouldn’t they have a voice in their own future? Shouldn’t they have the chance to tell you what wolf is crouching at their door?  

Don’t believe us? Listen to them!  

Agencies like ours can and do share shocking statistics with you; statistics like 45 million children suffering from wasting, 1.5 million children born as refugees between 2018 and 2022, 258 million children and youth entirely excluded from education.

If you don’t want to believe civil society when we tell you how bad things are for children, then please listen to the children themselves. Listen to 17-year-old Celina talk about the impact of El Nino, or Afghan Mujeb, 12, on child labour , or Dola about child marriage.  

None of those children are ‘crying wolf’. The dangers they and their peers face are very real and disastrous without your help.

You have a chance.  

World Vision, and other member of the Joining Forces coalitions [link to the statement] are calling on government leaders to: 

• Put child rights and wellbeing at the centre of the Pact;   
• Ensure that children are able to meaningfully and safely participate in the shaping of the Pact of the Future;  
• Strengthen their commitment to and prioritise investment in child education, health, social services and the protection of children from violence; and 
• Prioritise the protection of children affected by armed conflict as a critical aspect of resolving conflict and sustaining peace.  

  I couldn’t put all this any better than Ghanian 12-year-old Shamima in her poem A Better Tomorrow Begins Today. Why not take a listen?  

*Read the Joining Forces statement Ignoring Children: A Potentially Grave Mistake for the Pact for the Future*  

Dana Buzducea is World Vision International's Partnership Leader, Advocacy & External Engagement