Protecting children's rights in the collection of health and welfare data

Program managers and researchers promoting children's rights to health, education, and an adequate standard of living often gather data directly from children to assess their needs and develop responsive services. Gathering information within a participatory framework recognizing children's views contributes to protection of their rights. Extra precautions, however, are needed to protect children because of the vulnerabilities associated with their developmental needs. Using case studies of ethical challenges faced by program implementers and sociobehavioral researchers, this article explores ways in which data collection activities among children may affect their rights. We suggest ways in which rights-based principles may be used to derive safeguards to protect against unintentional harm and abuses, based on a multidisciplinary consultation with researchers and service providers.