The Scottish Government wants to make Scotland the best place in the world for a child to grow up, and believes that recognising, respecting and promoting the rights of children and young people is essential to achieving this. It is taking steps to ensure that children experience their rights, as determined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on a daily basis.
The United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) applies to all children and young people under 18. The aim of the UNCRC is to recognise children’s rights and ensure that children grow up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.
The UNCRC has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and it sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights. It is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. All UN member states except for the United States of America have ratified the Convention.
You can read more information about the UNCRC on the Unicef website https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/
As part of the effort to promote children’s rights, the Scottish Government has produced a valuable ten-minute training tool to raise awareness of children’s rights, not only among early years professionals and practitioners, but also among parents and carers.
You can complete the training tool here.
Last updated 30th October 2022 by C Dorby