Child-Friendly Version

Do you remember that United Nations meeting we’ve been talking about throughout this blogpost series, where a group of people are going to review how the UK treats children and their rights? Well it starts tomorrow! That means it’s the last blogpost of this series and by now you’re probably an expert in children’s rights and are super prepared to watch the review and listen out for the issues we’ve discussed that children and young people in Scotland want to see raised. Check out the end of this blogpost to find a link to watch the review live!

Throughout this series we mentioned a few times how some groups of children are more at risk of experiencing really difficult things like poverty and mental health. Over all these groups of children are less likely to have their rights protected. These groups of children need special protection. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that governments need to make sure these children are happy, healthy, and safe too.

Some of these groups include children who have moved to the UK from another country in search of a safer place to live (also known as asylum seekers and refugees), children who are in the justice system, and children who may be interested in joining the armed forces.

However, Together’s 2023 State of Children’s Rights Report shows that many of the recommendations made by the UN Committee aren’t being achieved in the UK. For example, the UK continues to recruit children as young as 16 into the armed forces which could place them in danger or commit them to something which will have a huge impact on their lives. Organisations who work with children in the armed forces are worried that when the army tries to get young people to join, they only talk about the good things about life in the army and don’t mention the bad things. They also try to recruit children from places where things are really hard for families in case they would be more likely to sign up.

Our report also talks about the unfair treatment of 16- and 17-year-olds in the justice system. Even though they are under 18 they are treated as adults in the justice system and are not given the support that upholds their special rights as a child.

We want to see the UK Government take extra care of these children to make sure all their rights are upheld. We hope these issues will be raised at the UN review, to make sure all children live happy, healthy, and safe lives.