The Tower at our headquarters was lit blue on 16 July to celebrate one year of incorporation of Children's Rights into Scots law.
This was a significant milestone in the recognition and protection of children’s rights in Scotland, as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) 2024 came into force on 16th July 2024. Scotland was the first part of the UK to incorporate the UN charter on children’s rights in law.
The act requires all of Scotland’s public authorities, including the government, to seek to protect children and young people’s rights, to consider them when making policy decisions and make it unlawful for them to contravene UNCRC requirements. It will also allow children and young people to use the courts to enforce their rights.
Scottish Borders Council is part of a local UNCRC multi-agency working group within the Children and Young People’s Planning Partnership in the Borders. Current priorities for the group include: raising awareness of children’s rights through the development of training for the local workforce, establishing a child-friendly complaints procedure, commissioning an independent advocacy service for children and young people in the Scottish Borders, and ensuring young people’s voices are at the heart of decision-making through the implementation of the Youth Engagement Listen to Learn (YELL) participation and engagement strategy which was launched in September 2024.
More information about the UNCRC can be found on the Children & Young People’s Commissioner Scotland website UNCRC. You can find out more about local work on UNCRC and children’s rights on Scottish Borders Council website.