The First Minister has committed to pass a law within the next two years that will bring the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law. This is known as ‘incorporation’ and means that children and young people’s rights will be binding on all levels of government. This announcement has been widely welcomed and celebrated across Together’s membership who recognise the culture change that incorporation can bring, and the impact it will have on children, young people and their families across Scotland.

The Scottish Government will be launching a consultation on incorporation in May. We want to encourage and support as many people as possible to get involved and respond. To do this, we’ll be publishing a series of blogs from our members throughout May which put the spotlight on why this is the #RightTime for Scotland to incorporate. We want a Scotland where the rights of all children and young people are respected, protected and fulfilled all of the time. We know that incorporation will play an essential role in making this happen.

Our #RightTime blogs celebrate the progress that’s already being made in Scotland – and set out what more needs to be done – to achieve this vision. The themes for the blogs have been brought to our attention by children and young people – drawn from recommendations made by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) at their Rights Review event (April 2018) and by Members of the Children’s Parliament (MCPs) in the What Kind of Scotland? (2017) publication.

We hope these blogs raise awareness and understanding of what children and young people are saying to us about their rights, and the impact that incorporation could have on their lives. We also hope that our blogs help to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of the UNCRC and encourage lots of people to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation.

In this 30^th anniversary year of the UNCRC, we know it’s the #RightTime to incorporate the UNCRC. Let’s make it happen!

• Incorporation encourages a culture change in which children and young people are better valued and respected – countries including Norway and Iceland have already demonstrated this.
• Incorporation provides a meaningful legacy to the Year of Young People, making sure that future generations benefit from the hard work and commitment of today’s children and young people.
• Incorporation helps to mitigate against the negative impact of Brexit on children and young people’s human rights protections, providing some certainty in uncertain times.
• Incorporation is supported by children, young people and their families, as well as teachers, social workers and medical staff and from government and MSPs.

Make sure you keep up to date with our daily blogs by following us on Twitter, Instagram or directly on our blog. Also, do share our blogs across social media and tell us why you think it’s the #RightTime to put children and young people’s rights into law.

Stay tuned for the release of our first article tomorrow!

• Read more about incorporation in this briefing for members.
• Find out about the Children’s Rights (Scotland) Bill which shows how the UNCRC could be incorporated into Scots Law.

Images by Liv Wan Illustration & Design