Together assesses Scottish Government’s approach to COVID-19

Date: 7th August 2020
Category: General measures of implementation, General principles

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Together has produced an updated assessment of Scottish Government’s approach to COVID-19 and the impact on children’s human rights.

The report considers the extent to which Scottish Government has implemented 11 recommendations issued by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in April 2020. The UN Committee’s statement set out what governments should do to take a children’s rights-based approach to the crisis.

Together produced an initial report in May 2020 and contributed to a comprehensive independent Child Rights Impact Assessment conducted by the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland on behalf of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.

Together’s updated report covers recent developments including the planned return to schools in August, SQA results, changes to physical distancing rules for children, and consultation work with children and young people with experience of the children’s hearings system. The report also covers new publications and data from Scottish Government, including the Children, Young People and Families COVID-19 Evidence and Intelligence report, published on 22nd July 2020.

As in the initial report, the update draws on feedback from Together’s members to analyse where Scottish Government is making progress towards the UN Committee’s 11 recommendations and areas where further work or more information is needed.

We encourage our members to submit information here for inclusion in subsequent reports.

Scottish Government published an update of its response to COVID-19 and the 11 recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Thursday 6th August. Together’s report was written prior to the publication of this update and Together will provide full comment on the updated report in the next edition of our e-newsletter.

  • Read Together’s updated analysis here.
  • Read the latest update from Scottish Government on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the 11 recommendation published by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child here.