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Children and young people deserve to be heard in places of power, and so we work to give you the chance to speak up at an international level.
For example, in May 2019 two young people – EJ and Katrina – led our delegation to give evidence to the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva.
While there, they became the youngest people ever to have addressed the Committee.
They shared a lot of concerns.
On the age that children can be held responsible and punished by law for their actions.
On children being restrained and secluded in schools.
On children being physically punished by parents and carers.
In June 2019, we supported four 10 year-olds from Glasgow –Advi, Ben, Brooke and Charlie – to work with Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights as he addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on the UK’s record on poverty.
We helped young people in Scotland make their voices heard at ENOC, a network of Children’s Commissioners from across Europe.
We worked with them to develop three recommendations around how children’s rights should be realised in a digital world.
The UNCRC was created before the internet became a big thing, and before much of today’s technology like apps and social media.
That means there’s a real need to think about how children’s rights can be protected in the digital world we live in now, and to listen to the experiences of the children and young people who often use technology most.
In June 2019 two of the young people we worked with – Beccie and Matthew – travelled to Brussels to present Scotland’s recommendations.
They worked to create a joint statement on digital rights with young people from across Europe.
And this statement will feed into recommendations given to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, who are working on digital rights.
Once their work is complete, they will tell everyone about it by writing what is called a General Comment. This will help people understand how the UNCRC applies to your life online.