Annual Report 2024-25: Reflecting on a year of progress

We are pleased to share our Annual Report 2024-25, which highlights a year of significant developments in the promotion and protection of the human rights of babies, children and young people across Scotland.

Introducing our annual report, our Chair, Susan Hunter, says:

“This year has felt like a turning point for children’s rights in Scotland. With the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 finally coming into force in July, Together has moved from years of campaigning to the practical work of making rights a reality.”

[Image description: a screenshot of annual report. An icon with train tracks and Rights Express train].

Annual Report 2024-25

Research launch: Access to Justice for Babies and Young Children Across 12 Jurisdictions Report

In partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s LLM in Human Rights Law, we are launching a timely report to showcase ongoing efforts to ensure that children’s rights are meaningfully realised in Scotland. It follows the work of Together’s “Tiny Rights Detectives” project, which explored how the youngest children experience and understand their rights.

The investigation highlighted serious gaps in access to justice for babies and young children, sparking the need for a deeper exploration of international practices. A key learning from this work is that babies and young children are largely invisible when it comes to access to justice mechanisms. Despite being rights-holders from birth under the UNCRC, their needs are often excluded from mainstream justice discussions, making this invisibility a central finding of the report.

Children's Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework

We're delighted that the Children's Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework is now available.

The Framework provides access to resources and training on children’s rights and on taking a children’s human rights approach.

The resources can be used across a wide range of sectors, giving users an enhanced understanding of how they can respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights.  

[Image description: The project logo of a child underneath a rainbow that says 'Happy, Healthy, Safe']

https://www.togetherscotland.org.uk/framework/

Get involved!

If you're passionate about children's rights in Scotland, there are a number of ways you can get involved in the work of Together:

Become a Together member
Sign up to our e-newsletter
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Donate to Together

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Latest News & Events

23rd February 2026 — General measures of implementation
New UNCRC Tribunal Rules Laid

The instruments follow judicial review proceedings raised in May 2025 by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) against Scottish Ministers concerning the absence of tribunal rules to ensure UNCRC compatibility questions could be formally notified. Following a procedural hearing, Ministers committed to draft, consult on and lay the necessary rules within a specified timetable, and the present instruments arise from that process.

19th February 2026 — General measures of implementation

Religious Observance and UNCRC Amendment Bill: Passed at Stage 3

The Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament at Stage 3 on 17 February 2026. The Bill covers two main areas: changes to the law on religious observance in schools, and amendments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 that intend to clarify how that Act operates.

16th February 2026 — Child poverty

Child maintenance – sign the open letter

Across the UK, too many children in separated families are missing out on the financial support they need, and the system designed to help them is falling short. One Parent Families Scotland, Fife Gingerbread and IPPR Scotland present their recommendations for a system that is fairer, safer and easier to navigate for all separated families.

16th February 2026 — Child rights impact assessments

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill Amendment 221

With evidence from the pandemic exposing how children’s rights were sidelined, the Covid-19 Inquiry called for statutory Child Rights Impact Assessments. As the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill progresses through Report Stage in the House of Lords, there was strong support for Amendment 221, tabled by Baroness Lister, which would have place d Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) on a statutory footing.

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