A ‘child rights based approach’ means putting children’s human rights at the heart of everything you do.

In March 2021, the UNCRC Incorporation Scotland Bill was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament.

In March 2021, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Incorporation Scotland Bill was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. It marked the start of the journey towards true and meaningful transformational change for children and their families.

Earlier this year, I was delighted to take up a part time secondment with Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) to lead the Rights Right Now! (RRN!) project (Interim Children and Young People’s Consortium). RRN! was a pilot project to support children and young people’s meaningful and inclusive participation to support the work of the Strategic Implementation Board (SIB) (this link will take you away from our website) and inform the UNCRC implementation programme.

The project brought together a diverse group of children and young people, aged 10 to 17, from across six organisations: Aberlour, Carers Trust Scotland, Children in Scotland, Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD), Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) and Who Cares? Scotland. We provided the space to explore what best practice looks like in terms of children and young people’s participation at a governance and strategic decision making level.

Safe Participation

Fundamental to a human rights based approach is the need to involve everyone in decisions that affect their rights. Article 12, one of the general principles of the UNCRC, states that children should be listened to and taken seriously in all matters affecting them. From the outset of the project, it was important to consider how children and young people could be supported to share their views in a safe and inclusive way. Something integral to all forms of engagement work and recently highlighted by Sue McKellar in her blog on ‘Taking participation work seriously’ (this link will take you away from our website)

We are often in situations where we hold ourselves back from expressing what we think because we feel intimidated or uncomfortable. This is amplified for children and young people, with the additional challenge of the traditional power imbalance between adults and children.

In recognition of this, the Rights Right Now! project took a trauma informed approach to participation underpinned by the principles of inclusivity, accessibility, safety, and creativity. During the project we heard from children and young people about the importance of feeling safe when participating. Members of RRN! shared experiences of interacting and engaging with decision makers. Whilst we heard of positive examples, worryingly some children and young people shared experiences where they had felt undermined or challenged by decision makers.

The engagement model for RRN! involved bringing together children and young people with adult decision makers in a shared space. At the beginning of the project children and young people agreed safe, inclusive, and accessible participation through the development of a group agreement. This agreement incorporated values, principles, and practical concerns and informed the development of future sessions. For example, conversations around universal topics like food and doing creative things together helped to break down barriers and support the group of children and adults to bond. These principles were shared with all adults joining the space including the Strategic Implementation Board.

Issues for children and young people

As part of the project, it was important to start by exploring issues that were important to children and young people and relating these to their own lives. A range of issues were identified these included: climate change, mental health, exam pressures, inclusive education, stigma for care experienced young people, poverty, equality and equity and right awareness.

Members of RRN! shared their views on the strategic actions included in Scottish Government’s 2021-2024 Action Plan on Progressing Children’s Rights (this link will take you away from our website). They were also involved in informing the development of a Scottish Government national awareness raising campaign aimed at ensuring that children and their families are aware and understand the UNCRC.

Children and young people welcomed spaces like Rights Right Now! to engage with duty bearers on issues that impact them. They emphasised the importance of seeing action and change being implemented in response to sharing their views. Engagement is not a one-off exercise and decision makers must be ready for an ongoing process of feedback and dialogue.

Looking forward

The RRN! project highlighted the commitment to listening to children and young people and the need to create safe and inclusive spaces which provide the necessary conditions to enable action, influence, and impact.

This complements our approach at the ALLIANCE, and we work to ensure that people are at the centre and their voices, expertise and rights drive policy, support, and services. At the ALLIANCE we believe that people being able to access and realise their human rights is essential for our health and wellbeing and our society. The incorporation of the UNCRC and other human rights conventions including the Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD) underpins the foundations for transformational change across Scotland. Decision makers must always keep at the forefront the need to implement what they have heard to ensure that everyone feels equally valued, listened to and included across society.

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