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By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Oct 23 (IPS) - When voters in Argentina flock to the polls for Sunday's legislative elections, their children will not have to wait outside twiddling their thumbs - for the first time, they will also be voting.
Some 400,000 eight to 17-year-old residents of Buenos Aires will fill out a ballot paper expressing their opinions based on three questions which emerged from previous workshops in which youngsters set forth their problems.
The burning issues which emerged from the workshops were concern over what kind of environment today's young will inherit, poverty, and the violation of the rights of working, homeless or abused children.
The 'parallel elections' are part of a project designed by Unicef - the United Nations children's agency - and the Buenos Aires city government, which focuses on increasing children's participation as citizens. Similar 'elections' have already been held in Colombia and Ecuador, as well as in Mexico at a national level.
Although it may appear to be, the exercise is not a game. Based on the results, the city parliament will draw up a law on the rights of the child.
Maria Orsenigo, director of the Buenos Aires government's office of the Minor and the Family, told IPS that ''the idea is to increasingly incorporate children in decision-making, facilitating channels of participation which are the least formal as possible.''
The vote will be secret. The children will mark their age and sex, and choose from at least 10 options for each of the three questions included in the survey. The ballot boxes will be in sight of the adult voting stations, not in closed rooms.
The differentiation by age and gender, as well as the collection of ballot papers by neighbourhood, will allow the organisers to break down the information gathered. It could be found, for example, that girls are more concerned about a particular issue than boys, or that there are specific problems to be addressed in a certain neighbourhood.
The organisers expect parents not to intervene, in order for the responses to be genuine.
The first question asks which rights are respected the least. The list of options emerged from the workshops in which youngsters put forth their concerns, and will include the right to a family, housing, education, food, medical care, to play and express their opinions, to not suffer discrimination and not be exploited.
The second asks where the rights of minors are least respected. The 13 options will include the home or the family, school, the local club, the soccer field, the police station, the discotheque and the media.
Lastly the participants will be asked how they think those who govern and make the laws should be informed of the opinions and proposals of children and teenagers.
The election - in which youngsters from the provinces currently in Buenos Aires will also be able to participate - will run parallel to a historic vote by the residents of Buenos Aires, a city of some 12 million inhabitants.
Buenos Aires has been autonomous since slightly over a year ago. The head of the city government, Fernando de la Rua, is the first mayor to be elected rather than designated by the national government. On Sunday, voters will elect the first members of what will be the city parliament.
''Now that a historic phase for the city government is opening, we see it as important to begin a new chapter in which children and teenagers take part in designing the city, its laws and institutions so that their rights are respected,'' said Orsenigo.
One father protested to the Office of the Minor that parents were only informed by the press of the 'parallel elections' a few days ago.
But this time the information was targeted at the children. Not a single school, parish church, club, park or other site frequented by children and teenagers failed to receive ballot papers. During children's TV programmes, Unicef ran notices urging youngsters to vote, and on election day ballot papers will be inserted in newspapers. (END/IPS/TRA-SO/MV/DG/SW/97)
