Connect's Summary: Taking a Children's Human Rights Approach Guidance

22nd January 2024

Taking a children's human rights approach: guidance Published January 24

This is non-statutory guidance to provide information and support to public authorities (health boards, local authorities etc) to implement a children’s human rights approach. It will help them to prepare for their duties under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act once this comes into force in six months (approximately July 2024).

The guidance consists of an introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Act to incorporate it into Scots law, and how public authorities can put children’s rights into practice by:

Considering children’s rights when making decisions;
Considering children’s rights when creating budgets;
Making sure communication is understandable for children;
Raising awareness of children’s rights;
Letting children take part in making decisions and letting them share their views;
Having child friendly complaints procedures and making sure people can support them by advocating on their behalf

A children’s human rights approach is a framework for working with children which places the UNCRC at the centre of planning and delivering services for children. It consists of five principles:

Embedding: Putting children’s human rights at the core of planning and the delivery of services that affect children and young people.

Child Rights Impact Assessments or Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments should be conducted when developing policies. These assess how children’s rights and wellbeing could be impacted, making sure that children’s views are considered in the decision-making process, that any potential negative impacts can be identified and mitigated, and that transparency is provided by publishing the assessment.
Children’s rights should be considered in budgeting, so that enough resources are provided to deliver essential services to realise children’s rights, consideration is given to how budgetary decisions could impact children, and to make sure budget information is available and accessible for children and young people. Children and young people could be involved in making decisions through participatory budgeting.

Equality and non-discrimination: Ensuring that every child or young person has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.

Communication must be inclusive, taking account of potential barriers such as age and maturity, language, or disability, and so children can access information in a format they can understand, such as providing easy read versions of documents.
Children and adults should also be able to share their views and be able to challenge service providers if they feel their rights are not being respected.
Service providers need to match their communication to the needs of those using the service.

Empowerment: Giving children the knowledge and confidence to use their rights and hold organisations and individuals that affect their lives to account.

This can be done through awareness-raising campaigns. The Scottish Government will run a national campaign to raise awareness of children’s rights in 2024.

Participation: Listening to children and taking their views seriously.

There are a range of ways to involve children and young people in decision making, ensuring their right to be involved in any decisions that affect them, from national policy to those affecting them specifically such as health care or custody decisions.

Accountability: Organisations and individuals should be accountable to children for the decisions and actions which affect their lives.

Children should be given information and access to procedures which enable them to question and challenge decision-makers, such as child-friendly complaints procedures.
Public authorities have a duty to report every three years on the steps they have taken to support children’s rights.
Children should also be supported to access advocacy to support them to realise their rights. Advocacy can be provided by their parents, carers, peers and professionals.

Other Useful Links and Resources