Commissioner celebrates Young Carers Festival
Children and Young People’s Commissioner Nicola Killean spent the day with young people at the Scottish Young Carers Festival, marking the one-year anniversary of the UNCRC (Scotland) Act becoming law.
The annual festival – which celebrates its 18th birthday this year – brings together hundreds of young carers to have a break from their caring role, have fun with other young people with similar experiences, and share their views.
Commissioner Nicola took part in the activities and spoke at the event. She talked about the significance of having the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child now legally enforceable in Scotland.
Commissioner Nicola said to the young people: “Young carers have all the same rights as all children in Scotland. Your rights cover all parts of your life, like your rights to health, education, rest, to have a safe, warm house, nutritious food, and to have your opinions taken seriously, and not be discriminated against. You also have the right to your family getting the support it needs to help you grow up.
“It’s very important that your rights are in law as it means that you can challenge when things go wrong and your rights are not respected.
“We know that when you are a young carer some things in life can be more of a challenge and there needs to be extra efforts made to make sure that you get all of your rights – and there must be help at hand when you don’t.”
The Young Carers Media Ambassadors Team interviewed the Commissioner on the day, asking questions about the rights of young carers and the Commissioner’s role.
Commissioner Nicola said: “It was wonderful to be with young people today on such a special day for children’s rights in Scotland. Having the UNCRC in law is a significant milestone and one I’m happy we can celebrate. However, although incorporation of the UNCRC is a big step forward, it is only one step. From my work and from what I’ve heard today from young carers, there is still some way to go before we can say that every child in Scotland truly has their rights respected, protected, and fulfilled.”