Scottish Government Response to the Concluding Observations
At the end of the latest reporting round, on 3 October 2008, the UN Committee published their ‘Concluding Observations’ – a series of recommendations on the action the UK should take to secure full implementation of the UNCRC. We have produced a children and young people’s version of the Concluding Observations. Almost all of the Concluding Observations are directly relevant to Scotland. The Scottish Government has prepared a detailed response setting out proposals for action which is currently out for consultation.
There are three strands to the consultation: a series of consultation events around Scotland for people working for and with children; a range of activities for consulting with children and young people, being organised through Young Scot; a written consultation that closes on 2 March;
Written consultation
The draft Scottish Government response to each of the relevant UN Committee’s recommendations – 142 of them! Was published for consultation in December 2008. The purpose of the consultation is to find out from people: what do you think are the most important issues for priority action? and; do you think the proposed response is proportionate and realistic in your area of interest? If you would like to add your written response to these questions, or know someone who would, please note that the consultation closes on 2 March.
Children and Young People’s Consultation
Young Scot are co-ordinating a range of activities to engage children and young people in the consultation. Children and young people are being asked to complete a survey that aims to establish what they know about the UNCRC. This is being given a wide distribution both on and off-line. More in-depth work is being done in focus groups and local investigation teams. A range of focus groups are exploring the different rights in the UNCRC and the issues raised by the UN Committee. Children and young people are then asked to prioritise the issues, considering where they feel Scotland has the most improvements to make. The local investigation teams are groups of children and young people investigating how they and their peers are supported or prevented from enjoying their rights in their local area. All of the information gathered by Young Scot will be written up in a report to the Scottish Government.
Consultation events
Thank you very much to those of you attended or helped out at one of the consultation events organised on our behalf by the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights (SACR). We ran 4 very successful events in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Inverness, with around 300 participants from across central and local government, NGOs and charities, campaigners and service providers. These events generated a huge amount of information for us. SACR will produce a report summarising the main issues that participants raised and this will be published on the
Consultation events continued
Scottish Government website, alongside responses to the written consultation and the final report from Young Scot.
What will happen next?
We are now working towards publishing the final Scottish Government response to the 2008 Concluding Observations by the end of June, informed by the consultation process. |
Children and Young People’s Consultation
Young Scot are co-ordinating a range of activities to engage children and young people in the consultation. Children and young people are being asked to complete a survey that aims to establish what they know about the UNCRC. This is being given a wide distribution both on and off-line. More in-depth work is being done in focus groups and local investigation teams. A range of focus groups are exploring the different rights in the UNCRC and the issues raised by the UN Committee. Children and young people are then asked to prioritise the issues, considering where they feel Scotland has the most improvements to make. The local investigation teams are groups of children and young people investigating how they and their peers are supported or prevented from enjoying their rights in their local area. All of the information gathered by Young Scot will be written up in a report to the Scottish Government.
Consultation events
Thank you very much to those of you attended or helped out at one of the consultation events organised on our behalf by the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights (SACR). We ran 4 very successful events in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Inverness, with around 300 participants from across central and local government, NGOs and charities, campaigners and service providers. These events generated a huge amount of information for us. SACR will produce a report summarising the main issues that participants raised and this will be published on the
Consultation events continued
Scottish Government website, alongside
responses to the written consultation and the final report from Young Scot.
What will happen next?
We are now working towards publishing the final Scottish Government response to the 2008 Concluding Observations by the end of June, informed by the consultation process. Up until then there is a lot to do for the Children’s Rights Team and our partners. We will be working hard to gather together all the information from the consultation with a view to publishing summary documents from each of the 3 strands on the Scottish Government website by the end of April. We will keep you posted on how things are progressing and will send out another newsletter with links to the summary documents once they’re up. |
