Lack of awareness of UNCRC amongst minority ethnic children, says roshni

Date: 21st July 2015
Category: Respect for the views of the child, Non-discrimination, Awareness-raising

Findings from a research project seeking the views of minority ethnic children and young people have been published in a Children's Rights Report, which contains a number of recommendations including for more work to be done to raise awareness and understanding of the UNCRC and the Children's Commissioner.

roshni were commissioned by the Rights and Participation Team in the Scottish Government to undertake a short research project. The purpose of this research was to seek the views of minority ethnic children and young people on children's rights, as guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

The research project aimed to address the distinct lack of available evidence on the experiences of minority ethnic children and young people, as identified in previous research on children's views and experiences of the UNCRC.

Key findings from the report include:

- There is a general lack of awareness amongst many minority ethnic children and young people about the purpose of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the rights established by the UNCRC and the work of Scotland's Commissioner for Children & Young People.

- Minority ethnic children and young people were largely unaware of the work of the Commissioner unless he had happened to visit their school. Those that were aware were positive about steps the Commissioner had taken to raise awareness about children's rights.

- The vast majority of minority ethnic children and young people would like further measures taken to educate them about their rights.

- More work should be done to raise awareness and understanding of the rights provided for by the UNCRC and the work of the Commissioner amongst children and young people generally. This work should include targeted outreach to minority ethnic communities, led by minority ethnic organisations in the third sector.

- Additional measures should be considered by relevant parties to tackle ongoing instances of ethnic, religious and cultural discrimination.

Key recommendations from the report include:

- More work should be done to raise awareness and understanding of the rights provided for by the UNCRC and the work of the Commissioner amongst children and young people generally. This work should include targeted outreach to minority ethnic communities, led by ME organisations in the third sector.

- Additional measures should be considered by relevant parties to tackle ongoing instances of ethnic, religious and cultural discrimination.

- More needs to be done to engage ME CYP in politics and community activism. There needs to be additional efforts from relevant organisations to make minority ethnic children and young people aware of opportunities available in this regard and to empower them to pursue these opportunities.

This research project was used to inform Together's (the Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights) non-government report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Together's report examines the progress made since 2008 to further the UNCRC in Scotland and makes recommendations for how this can be improved. The report is part of a UK wide periodic review process and was submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the 1st of July 2015.