International Colloquium on Children’s Right to Participation – Children’s Voices: People Today, Not Tomorrow
When: 19-21 November 2025
Where: Palazzo de Piro, Mdina, Malta
Kindly note that registration is now closed.
Overview
Children are not “human becomings” but human beings with a moral status equal to adults. Yet, despite this, their thoughts, concerns, and experiences are too often muted by an overly protective lens.
This colloquium places Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) at the center, affirming children’s right to be heard in all decisions that affect them.
Coinciding with World Children’s Day (20 November), the colloquium offers an interdisciplinary platform to reimagine participation: listening to children as people today, not tomorrow. It invites educators, legal scholars, practitioners, policymakers, ethicists, theologians, and young people to explore frameworks and practices that recognize children as present agents in school, civil society, family, church, and policy spaces.
Organisers
The Colloquium is convened by the Department of Moral Theology and the Department of Pastoral Theology, Liturgy and Canon Law at the Faculty of Theology, University of Malta, in partnership with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.
Additional Information
Language: English
Certificates: Attendance certificates provided on request
Information for those visiting from abroad:
- Useful information is available at visitmalta.com.
- While Malta has a public transport system, we recommend using taxi services such as eCabs, Bolt or Uber for greater convenience. They all operate via smartphone apps, which you can download in advance.
- We are pleased to offer free guided tours to two of Malta’s most iconic sites: St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta and St Paul’s Cathedral and the Cathedral Museum in Mdina.
For queries or further guidance, please contact the Convenors (Rev. Prof. Raymond Zammit, Rev. Prof. Carl-Mario Sultana, Rev. Dr Kevin Schembri) at childrensvoices2025@gmail.com.
