Taking a children's human rights approach: guidance

1. Introduction

The purpose of this guidance is to provide information and resources to support public authorities and other organisations to implement a children’s human rights approach. This may also assist public authorities to meet their current duties under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and to prepare for their duties under section 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act 2024. When the UNCRC Act comes into force on 16 July 2024, section 6 of the Act will place a duty on public authorities not to act incompatibly with the ‘UNCRC requirements’ as defined by section 1 of the Act. 

1.1 Summary of the contents of this guidance

The content of the Guidance consists of the following sections:

1. an introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC);

2. an introduction to the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act;

3. methods to embed children’s human rights approaches in practice: decision-making; budget allocation; inclusive communication; awareness raising; participation of children; child friendly complaints and advocacy, including case studies, good practice examples and further resources;

4. links to other relevant policy areas.

This guidance does not cover legal duties which will come into force when the UNCRC Act commences on 16 July 2024. Statutory guidance will be issued for Part 2 (section 6: Compatibility Duty on Public Authorities) and Part 3 (section 18: Reporting Duties on Public Authorities) of the UNCRC Act, to support public authorities to fulfil their duties. 

Further case studies on taking a children’s human rights approach are provided in annexes, to support public authorities to learn from existing practice.

1.2 Who is the guidance for?

This guidance is issued on a non-statutory basis to provide those involved in public service delivery in Scotland with an introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and support them to implement a children’s human rights approach and give effect to children’s rights in practice.

A children’s human rights approach is not just relevant to children and young person’s services. All decisions made about, and actions taken to deliver public services may impact on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. It is vital to the realisation of children’s rights for all those carrying out public functions to consider children’s rights in their work.

1.3 How is the guidance to be used?

The UNCRC Act not only places legal duties on public authorities but also intends to improve the culture of children’s rights in Scotland. This guidance on how public authorities, and other organisations, can take a children’s human rights approach aims to support this shift to ensure they consider the UNCRC in the delivery of their services and take actions now to make children’s rights real.

Public authorities in Scotland already consider children’s rights in decision-making, and to help provide every child with a good start in life and a safe, healthy and happy childhood. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 places duties on certain public authorities to report on what they are doing to progress children’s rights. Furthermore, the UNCRC forms the basis of Scotland’s national approach for supporting children, Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and fulfilling children’s rights is critical to ongoing work on The Promise and to reduce child poverty.

This guidance is intended to build on these strong foundations, to support public authorities to further embed consideration of the UNCRC, and to encourage wider adoption of a children’s human rights approach.

1.4 How was the guidance developed?

This guidance was informed by engagement with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Guidance Sub-Group, which includes representative public authorities, third sector organisations and children’s rights bodies. Members are well placed to bring the wider views of stakeholders, such as children and young people and non-represented public authorities to the work of the Group.

In addition, the guidance benefited from engagement with local authority UNCRC Peer leads and information provided by children and families on the Children and Families panel who are supporting development of a Child Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework.

1.5 What will I learn?

The aims of this guidance are to:

• Provide a brief summary of human rights, children’s rights and the UNCRC.
• Raise awareness of the ambition for children’s human rights in Scotland and set out the Scottish Government’s actions to implement the UNCRC to date.
• Provide an update on the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act.
• Provide information and resources to support you to take a children’s human rights approach to planning and delivery of services.
• Clarify links between the UNCRC, key policies and existing Scottish legislation.
• Share relevant case studies on taking a children’s human rights approach.