On 16 March 2021, the UNCRC Incorporation (Scotland) Bill unanimously passed the Scottish Parliament, meaning that it will become Scots law.
That means that when this law commences by September, children and young people will have more power to take action when certain human rights they have aren’t respected.
Resources for children and the adults who support them
These resources may be useful if you’re a child, parent or carer to a child, or someone working with children:
Session plan: Learning about children’s rights
Information with an associated PowerPoint presentation for adults to adapt and use with prompts for discussion.
Your rights in poems
To celebrate UNCRC incorporation we asked @Lenniesaurus to write a Scots poyum about rights:
(You can download the words here, and a plainer version of them here.)
You might want to write a poem about your rights, too— in Scots or in any other language you choose. Our interactive rights acrostic worksheet has tips and guidance to help you write poems of their own. We’d love to see them if you’d like to share.
You have the POWER
The UNCRC being in Scots law will give you the power to change things! We’re asking children across Scotland to write or draw what they’ll do with their power and share this with us in any way you want.
You can put what you want to see changed inside a lightning bolt template we’ve created, which is available in a full-colour version and an easy-to-print version.
7 word stories
With just seven words, we celebrate rights.
Why do human rights matter to you? Have a think about how you can tell us in only seven words, then share your story with us any way you want.
We’ve turned some of the 7 Word Stories we received into posters which are available to print, we hope they will help you to create your very own 7 word stories about the human rights of children and young people.
Each individual poster is available to print here.
Learning about the UNCRC
The UNCRC is made up of Articles that explain your rights. You can find out more about these Articles:
- by downloading our symbols resource that explains them in pictures and very few words, or
- by reading simple versions of them on our website.
We also have more information about your right to have adults take your views seriously and your right to have adults think about what’s best for you.
Learning about incorporation
Being a child human rights defender
Children can act as human rights defenders, and when you do you should get help and support from adults.
You can find more information and resources about child human rights defenders here.
Rights wordsearches
Two wordsearches to serve as a fun rights-based activity:
UNCRC bunting
You can design your own UNCRC bunting using this template from the Children’s Parliament. Adults can create designs around why it’s important that children’s rights are made real in practice, and children and young people can make designs around what it looks like when they feel safe, happy and healthy.
Help and advice for children
We also have resources for children if you need help or advice around a human rights issue.
Resources for young people and the adults who support them
These resources may be useful if you’re a young person, parent or carer to a young person, or someone working with young people:
About the UNCRC
Our website has lots of information about what the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is and the first 42 Articles of the UNCRC, which set out rights shared by everyone under 18.
Rights FAQs
Our Rights questions and answers contain clear explanations of some of the words and concepts used by human rights professionals.
Activate your rights
Young Scot’s activate your rights resource has lots of information about how your UNCRC rights should work in practice in Scotland.
Help and advice for young people
We also have resources for young people if you need help or advice around a human rights issue.
Resources for adults working in law and policy
Full text of the UNCRC
The full text of the UNCRC in English and in Scots Gaelic.
Our policy work
Our policy work around UNCRC Incorporation is collected here.
Together Scotland resources page
Together Scotland have a large collection of information, resources and blogs useful for professionals thinking about putting the UNCRC into practice in Scotland.
What is the UNCRC, and what is incorporation?
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,or UNCRC, sets out several of the human rights that everyone has if they’re under 18 years old. You can find out about it here.
And “incorporating” just means “making a part of.” Incorporation of the UNCRC means putting the Convention into Scots law― making the Convention into a part of it.
Why does incorporation matter for children and young people in Scotland?
Why does incorporation matter for children and young people in Scotland?
When countries incorporate the UNCRC, the way people in power respect children’s rights permanently changes.
This leads to better decisions, and resources being used more effectively to ensure children and their families get what they need.
Scotland has a strong tradition of protecting children’s rights, but in many areas we haven’t done well enough. That’s particularly true for children whose rights are most at risk through things like poverty, being disabled, or not getting enough support.
Incorporation is a way to translate that tradition into legislation. It makes it more likely the things those children have a right to will become permanent parts of their lives.
And this includes things as vital as:
- The food, clothes and housing they need,
- The support they need to stay physically and mentally healthy,
- The right to have a say in everything that affects them.
Some adults are duty bearers: they have a responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of children and young people. But any adult can support children and young people by learning more about making their rights a reality.
What can I do if my rights haven’t been respected?
If you think your rights or the rights of a child or young person you know haven’t been respected, you can contact us for free on our advice line by:
- filling in our contact form,
- texting us at 0770 233 5720,
- phoning us for free on 0800 019 1179 (children and young people only),
- emailing us at inbox@cypcs.org.uk.