Listen to thisIn Scotland, we’re actively preparing for the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a historic moment for our wee nation because it’s the first time we’ll have properly incorporated a
UN human rights treaty in Scotland. Driven by long effort of many children’s advocates over the past 20 years, this will be the country’s first legally incorporated human rights instrument which encompasses not only children’s civil and political rights – like the right to be treated equally, and to participate in decisions that affect them - and economic, social and cultural rights - like the right to an adequate standard of living, to enjoy their own language and culture, and to equitable education.1 It’s not that we haven’t had these ambitions for children long before, but meaningful incorporation strengthens the leverage of those ambitions and enables children and adults to hold government, and the public services they deliver, more accountable than before.
Technically, these aren’t new or more rights than before – the UNCRC has applied to children in Scotland since the UK ratified the treaty in 1991 as international law. The difference is that these rights will now become recognised in domestic law, bringing human rights more tangible to children in Scotland. The expectation is that over time, incorporation has the potential to improve how our society treats children. Through culture change, and by making it more possible for children to experience their rights, this step means strengthening the policies, systems, and practices that touch on children’s lives. Ultimately, we expect we’ll be better at respecting children’s dignity as a country.
It's early days yet. While the Scottish Parliament is working through some hiccups with the Bill, the rest of us are getting on with preparing for next steps. For example, the Observatory for Children’s Human Rights Scotland is a ‘collaborative of Scottish organisations working to drive implementation of children’s human rights in Scotland, with local impact and global learning’.2 Commissioned by the Scottish Government, we recently led a highly collaborative effort to develop an overarching map to inform how this new incorporation will actually make a difference in children’s lives.3 The development of this ‘Theory of Change’ for the process of UNCRC implementation in Scotland drew on the wisdom of people from over 60 organisations, consultation with children and young people, and commissioned research and analysis on what effects change. The project report introduces ‘outcome maps’ that make up the ‘Theory of Change’ and offers principles to consider in applying it to each of our areas of work. While it’s primarily intended to spark the thinking of people in strategic roles, it can help all of us to drive actions and best prepare for our new duties once the UNCRC comes into effect.
Part of this work involved naming the interconnected change processes which might be key to seeing these human rights implemented in a felt way in children’s lives. Some of these change processes included aligning policies, developing the skills and capacities of practitioners, ensuring systems help to realise those rights, and nurturing societal culture change. The project has also drawn together rapid reviews of the evidence into what can make change happen in these four key areas. Our work to map the UNCRC’s incorporation in Scotland is in the hopes that we might help policy-makers and practitioners make evidence-based decisions, as we move towards the next steps of UNCRC implementation and search for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms which underlie change.
Child and youth care workers across Scotland will be working to apply a rights-based approach to strengthen their practices as they support children’s agency and voice in their worlds. At times, a rights-based approach can be misperceived as driving an adversarial, rather than relational, approach to practice.
And so, there is important thinking going on about how to frame human rights to be best understood in the context of inter-relational practice - sometimes using the concept of dignity4 as a phrase which sits better for some practitioners. These are exciting times to think more deeply about how a human rights-based approach can strengthen our effort to secure the dignity and rights of all the children and young people we work with. Stay with us for this rich learning journey!
1 Shields, S. (in press). ‘CRC Incorporation in Scotland: What are Children Participating in?’ Inspiring Children’s Futures Learning Report Series 4/2022. University of Strathclyde, UK
2 The Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland, https://www.ed.ac.uk/education/rke/our- research/children-young-people/childhood-and-youth-studies-research- group/research/observatory-of-childrens-human-rights-scotland
3 Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland, Matter of Focus and Public Health Scotland. (2022) ‘Theory of Change for Making Children’s Rights Real in Scotland.’ https://www.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/atoms/files/cys-theory-of-change-summary-june- 2022.pdf
