Together hosts Parliamentary reception and Rights Road Trip

Date: 17th January 2018
Category: Scotland-specific monitoring and reporting

In December, Together held two events which were both attended by the newly appointed Minister for Childcare and Early Years Maree Todd MSP.

The first was a Parliamentary reception where the 'UNCRC in Scotland' mural, which was created by children from Sciennes Primary School following our 'UNCRC in Scotland' seminar series, was launched. The second event was a 'Rights Road Trip', held with the Scottish Youth Parliament, where we took the Minister to four of Together's member organisations in Glasgow. Both events aimed to highlight important children's rights issues to the Minister ahead of the publication of the Ministerial report in September 2018.

Parliamentary reception

Together's Parliamentary reception was held on Wednesday 13th December to launch the 'UNCRC in Scotland' mural, which was created by pupils from Sciennes Primary School to reflect the messages of our UNCRC in Scotland seminar series. The reception was co-hosted by the Minister for Childcare and Early Years and Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani MSP and was attended by Together members, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, MSPs, and children and young people, including those involved in the creation of the mural.

At the reception, the pupils from Sciennes Primary School spoke about each panel of the mural and the child's rights messages they represented. Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and Glasgow Youth Council who were involved in the project also spoke about their experiences of the seminar series and how they plan to carry forward their learnings. The Minister for Childcare and Early Years spoke to attendees about her plans for taking forward the Ministerial Action Plan in 2018 which will address the UN Committee's 2016 Concluding Observations.

Rights Road Trip with the Scottish Youth Parliament

On Friday 15th December 2017, Together staff joined Members of Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) and the newly appointed Minister for Childcare and Early Years Maree Todd MSP on a 'Rights Road Trip' in Glasgow which involved visits to four Together member organisations. The purpose of the Road Trip was to follow up on the visits made in 2015 by UN Committee member Amal Aldoseri, where children and young people spoke about the issues they wanted to see raised in the Committee's 2016 Concluding Observations. This Road Trip gave the MSYPs the opportunity to speak to Together members about progress that has been made since the 2015 visit, and to talk to the Minister about the Scottish Government's plans for taking forward the Concluding Observations.

The group visited four organisations in Glasgow: Centre for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER), the Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ), Clan Childlaw, and Who Cares? Scotland. Each organisation discussed issues with the Minister that directly affect the rights of the children and young people that they work with.

The 'Rights Road Trip' was undertaken in preparation for the 2018 Ministerial children's rights report and action plan. This stems from a duty in Part 1 of the Children & Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 which requires the Minister to report to the Scottish Parliament on what has been done to progress children's rights since 2015, and lay out plans to further children's rights over the subsequent three-year period.