Involving children and young people

We work in partnership with children and young people, including those with experience of care and protection systems, to ensure their perspectives shape decision-making at every level. Grounded in their right to be heard, we believe lived experience should not simply inform our work, it should help lead it.

We also support young people to participate in landmark international events, including the UN Human Rights Council’s Annual Day on the Rights of the Child and the Global Disability Summit in 2025.

 

“When youth advocates speak about institutional care from personal experience, people listen differently. Their voice creates an impact that no expert could ever.”

– Eugenia Godoroja, Lumos Head of Child and Youth Participation.​
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Youth leadership

To embed youth participation across our work, Lumos has established Youth Advisory Boards in every country where we operate.
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What is a Lumos Youth Advisory Board?

A Lumos Youth Advisory Board is a group of young people with lived experience of the care and protection system who work in formal partnership with Lumos to shape our policies, services, and advocacy.

First established in 2017 and now active in every country where Lumos has a team, the Boards ensure that children’s voices directly influence how care systems are designed and reformed.

This collaboration leads to stronger, more effective care services, better-informed legislation, and care reforms that protect future generations from institutionalisation while empowering young people to become skilled, confident advocates and active citizens.

Young people who were once excluded from decision-making are now helping to shape the policies and systems that will protect future generations.
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Stories from Youth Advocates
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Pavel: Turning Lived Experience into Change

Pavel spent the first 13 years of his life in an institution in Moldova, where he was placed as a baby alongside his older brother.

He grew up surrounded by violence, hunger, and emotional neglect, without a sense of family or safety. Protected by his brother, Pavel eventually ran away at 13 and was later taken to hospital, where a social worker offered him the chance to live with a foster family — a turning point in his life.

Foster care introduced him to stability, freedom, and care for the first time. After six months, he reunited with his brother, trained as a tiler, and later joined Lumos’ Advisory Council, sharing his experiences nationally and internationally to improve care systems for children.

Today, Pavel is a trained social worker and co-founded an organisation giving children in care a voice, continuing to speak out so every child can grow up in a loving family.
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Olesea: From Orphanage to Independence

Olesea spent part of her childhood in a large institution in Moldova, where she lived among hundreds of children, isolated from society and deprived of love, safety, and family care. Placed there because her parents lacked resources and faced pressure due to her disability, she experienced daily fear, violence, and neglect in a system that treated children as numbers rather than individuals.

Her life changed when institutional care reform in Moldova, supported by Lumos, enabled her move into foster care — where, for the first time, she experienced stability, safety, and love.

Now a social worker, wife, and mother of two, Olesea is a member of the Lumos Advisory Council, advocating nationally and internationally for care reform that puts children first. She continues to share her experience to help ensure no child grows up in an institution, and every child can belong to a loving family.
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Stories from Youth Advocates
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Pavel: Turning Lived Experience into Change

Pavel spent the first 13 years of his life in an institution in Moldova, where he was placed as a baby alongside his older brother.

He grew up surrounded by violence, hunger, and emotional neglect, without a sense of family or safety. Protected by his brother, Pavel eventually ran away at 13 and was later taken to hospital, where a social worker offered him the chance to live with a foster family — a turning point in his life.

Foster care introduced him to stability, freedom, and care for the first time. After six months, he reunited with his brother, trained as a tiler, and later joined Lumos’ Advisory Council, sharing his experiences nationally and internationally to improve care systems for children.

Today, Pavel is a trained social worker and co-founded an organisation giving children in care a voice, continuing to speak out so every child can grow up in a loving family.
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Olesea: From Orphanage to Independence

Olesea spent part of her childhood in a large institution in Moldova, where she lived among hundreds of children, isolated from society and deprived of love, safety, and family care. Placed there because her parents lacked resources and faced pressure due to her disability, she experienced daily fear, violence, and neglect in a system that treated children as numbers rather than individuals.

Her life changed when institutional care reform in Moldova, supported by Lumos, enabled her move into foster care — where, for the first time, she experienced stability, safety, and love.

Now a social worker, wife, and mother of two, Olesea is a member of the Lumos Advisory Council, advocating nationally and internationally for care reform that puts children first. She continues to share her experience to help ensure no child grows up in an institution, and every child can belong to a loving family.
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Different countries. Different focuses.

Each Lumos Youth Advisory Board reflects the differing needs of children and young people in the context of care reform:
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Lumos Moldova

The Youth Advisory Board is focused on building coalitions with other youth networks as well as efforts to influence the government on care reform.

 

Lumos Ukraine

The group provides peer-to-peer mental health support and also works to support the other children around them.

 

Lumos Colombia

Many of the group members have shared their experiences at events and conferences to highlight the need to transform the care and protection systems for children in the country.

 
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Lumos Kenya

The Youth Advisory Board raises awareness on the issues affecting children and young people across the country. Beginning in Embu County, members champion family-based care and lead youth-driven research, helping build the evidence needed to inform meaningful child protection and care reform. Their participation ensures young people’s voices play a meaningful role in shaping care reform.

 

 

Above: Lumos attended the 2025 Annual Day on the Rights of the Child conference in Geneva, where we were joined by Vlad, a Lumos Youth Advocate who spoke about the importance of early childhood interventions to help children.
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Different countries. Different focuses.

Each Lumos Youth Advisory Board reflects the differing needs of children and young people in the context of care reform:
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Lumos Moldova

The Youth Advisory Board is focused on building coalitions with other youth networks as well as efforts to influence the government on care reform.

 

Lumos Ukraine

The group provides peer-to-peer mental health support and also works to support the other children around them.

 

Lumos Colombia

Many of the group members have shared their experiences at events and conferences to highlight the need to transform the care and protection systems for children in the country.

 

Lumos Kenya

The Youth Advisory Board raises awareness on the issues affecting children and young people across the country. Beginning in Embu County, members champion family-based care and lead youth-driven research, helping build the evidence needed to inform meaningful child protection and care reform. Their participation ensures young people’s voices play a meaningful role in shaping care reform.

 

 

Above: Lumos attended the 2025 Annual Day on the Rights of the Child conference in Geneva, where we were joined by Vlad, a Lumos Youth Advocate who spoke about the importance of early childhood interventions to help children.
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Our Global Youth Advisory Board

Elected representatives from our country boards contribute to the Global Youth Advisory Board, which plays a direct role in shaping Lumos’ programmes, advocacy priorities, and organisational direction.

In summer 2026, members of the Global Youth Advisory Board came to London for our first forum in five years, providing an opportunity for young people from across the world to share experiences and build connections.

 

Read more
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Thank you

We would like to thank all the children and young people with lived experience of care and protection systems who work with us. They help us make better decisions, deepen our understanding, and shape how care is designed and improved.
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Stories of Youth Advocacy
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