Using a collaborative approach to find out what life is really like for our children, young people, and families across Scotland. Building the Skills and Knowledge Framework for UNCRC implementation.
The UNCRC Skills and Knowledge Framework has reached an exciting new stage in its work. This project, commissioned by the Scottish Government, is exploring in depth the skills and knowledge required for different duty-bearers to fully implement children’s rights in Scotland. Together is working on this project with our partners JustRight Scotland, JRS KnowHow, Children’s Parliament and the Observatory on Human Rights of Children in Wales.
Our Professional Panel of 22 members of the Scottish workforce, from all over Scotland, has been meeting since December. The panel includes a teacher, health visitor, nurse, head teacher, doctor, police sergeant, council climate and sustainability officer, planning officer, social worker, third sector professionals and others.
The Professional Panel members have reflected on what life is like for children and families in Scotland right now, how public services are currently doing when it comes to upholding children’s rights, and what improvement would look like. Following this work, the Panel has explored the values, knowledge, and skills that professionals need to have to uphold children’s rights, and captured reflections on the foundational approach to the Framework and Training Plan.
The panels knowledge and experience gained throughout their careers have informed discussions about what resources and training materials would be useful to help ensure full realisation of children’s rights. A key theme that has emerged is the desire to link the UNCRC with other ongoing work, to ensure that implementation is seen as a foundational approach that will make things easier for the Scottish workforce. There has also been a lot of discussion about how to successfully reach professionals who are not working with children, but whose work directly affects children.
The panel’s work has been mirrored by a panel of 13 families, which has been detailed by my colleague Alyssa from Children’s Parliament in this blog.
We have also held an event for wider stakeholders from sectors across Scotland, to provide them with an update on the project and hear their thoughts on public services current children’s rights practice. We also explored what improvement could look like and discussed the values, skills and knowledge needed for a children’s rights approach.
