When Children Become Architects of Accountability: Designing Trust-Based Feedback Systems in High-Stigma Environments

In Türkiye, the 2023 earthquake response exposed how deeply rooted cultural norms and trust deficits constrained children's ability to voice concerns. For many Turkish and Syrian refugee families, the very act of providing feedback was associated with ayıp (shame), reinforcing stigma and silencing children. Qualitative assessments further revealed fears of retaliation, confidentiality breaches, and doubts that institutions would act as barriers consistent with global evidence showing that accountability to children remains one of the most underdeveloped areas in humanitarian action. To address these gaps, UNICEF in collaboration with 2 municipalities, 5 CSOs, 4 service providers, 8 mothers, 5 fathers and 49 children from Syrian and host communities designed and piloted child-centered feedback and complaints mechanisms (FCMs) grounded in accountability to affected people (AAP) principles. Using trauma-informed facilitation and inclusive design, children aged 4–17 including those with disabilities, their parents/caregivers reframed feedback as a right rather than a risk, embedding privacy, empathy and responsiveness into system design. This process shifted children's role from passive beneficiaries to active agents influencing decisions on issues as sensitive as protection from abuse. This case demonstrates that accountability to children must go beyond symbolic participation. It requires co-created structures that recognize children's evolving capacities, address power imbalances, and provide safe avenues for redress. By embedding dignity, inclusivity, and responsiveness, the Türkiye model illustrates how humanitarian actors can operationalize accountability to children, offering a replicable pathway for other high-stigma, resource-constrained contexts.