The Written Declaration on Investing in Children has been a success

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: General principles, Child poverty

The written declaration on investing in children is a 300 word text with four specific demands that required 376 signatures by MEPs from 7 September - 7 December 2015 to be published in the minutes of the European Parliament and forwarded to relevant EU institutions.

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Children’s rights must be at the heart of the Paris climate agreement

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: General measures of implementation, Right to life, survival and development, Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

Climate-related disaster and changing weather patterns increase the risk of malnutrition, vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and water and food-borne diarrhoea. According to the World Health Organisation, children suffer a much greater burden of these climate-related diseases than adults. Yet despite rhetoric about protecting our planet for future generations, children and their rights have been largely absent from COP21 negotiations.

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Plans to scrap human rights act postponed

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Other human rights treaties and mechanisms

Plans to scrap the Human Rights Act have been delayed for a second time until 2016, Justice Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed.

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GIRFEC Final Draft Statutory Guidance for Parts 4, 5 and 18 (section 96) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 is now available

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: General principles, Family Environment and Alternative Care, Civil Rights and Freedoms

Following public consultation earlier this year and an intensive period of joint working with organisations from across children's and adult services and parent groups, Scottish Government have made available the revised draft Statutory Guidance for the GIRFEC provisions. The new law and draft guidance aim to improve outcomes for children, young people and families by ensuring a consistent approach to how we support children's and young people's wellbeing wherever they live in Scotland. It is hoped that the draft guidance will enable services to operate effectively by:

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New strategy to improve services for looked after children

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Care Experienced children

The Children's Minister Aileen Campbell has announced new plans for looked after children which will aim to improve services and help ensure every child has a permanent home.

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New version of guidance on CERD available

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Non-discrimination

An updated version of the guidance on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has been produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Runnymede Trust.

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Children’s Rights and the UN Treaty Bodies - An analysis of the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Disabled children, Other human rights treaties and mechanisms, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities last week, CRIN has published an analysis of the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in which they press for the rights of children with disabilities to be addressed with the same consistency and rigour as adults' rights.

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New Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility Advisory Group

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Age of criminal responsibility

Together's Director has joined an advisory group set up by the Scottish Government to consider the policy, legislative and procedural implications of raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 8 to 12.

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Child poverty: European Parliament adopts long overdue resolution

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Child poverty

Together welcomes the adoption of the European Parliament Resolution Reducing inequalities with a special focus on child poverty. The resolution, adopted by large majority, is the formal endorsement of the 2013 European Commission Recommendation 'Investing in Children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage'. This is the first European Parliament resolution specifically on child poverty since 2008.

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Equally Protected? A review of the evidence on the physical punishment of children

Date: 24th November 2015
Category: Equal protection from violence

A new extensive & systematic research report calls for all physical punishment of children to be prohibited by law in Scotland, amongst other policy recommendations.

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