Participation
Countdown to World Children’s Day
November 14, 2022 by Caroline McMenemy 1 Comment | Category Children & young people, Guest blog
Through a series of blog posts this week we mark the countdown to World Children’s Day on Sunday 20 November!
Reflecting, connecting and looking forward
This World Children’s Day we (the Empowered Children and Young People’s Team) reflect on our key achievements over the past year in supporting children and young people to meaningfully participate in the work of the Children and Families Directorate:
- we celebrate our partnerships with like-minded individuals across a variety of organisations who are passionate about amplifying the voices of children and young people and making Article 12 a reality in their lives
- we recognise our contribution to knowledge development amongst our colleagues and stakeholders and how we have learned from, and been inspired by, others
- we are thankful to everyone we work in partnership with to promote and embed children’s rights, especially children and young people themselves
The Empowered Children and Young People’s Team look forward to continuing to work with others to make Scotland a better place for everyone.
Some examples of important work that has taken place over the last year are:
- Our work with Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) to support children and young people’s meaningful participation in United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) implementation – read the Rights Right Now! Report 2022
- The Annual Cabinet meeting with representatives from the Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament and enables children and young people to raise and agree actions on issues that matter most to them and their peers – read the commitments agreed
World Children’s Day
World Children’s Day is UNICEF’s annual day of action for children, by children. It takes place on the 20th November each year and is an important day to highlight and celebrate the empowerment of children and young people and plan how we can all work together to create a better future for everyone.
On World Children’s Day we mark the commitment made by world leaders through their adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)! This is particularly notable here in Scotland where work is underway to incorporate the UNCRC into the law to the maximum extent possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
How can young people take part?
ChristianChan Images/canva.com
Children and young people are encouraged to learn about their rights. Access a child-friendly version of the UNCRC.
Young people aged 13-24 years are invited to sign up to UNICEF’s Voices of Youth to express and share their views on matters that are important to them.
Voices of Youth is a digital community for young people by young people. The site provides access to information on a range of topics that are important to young people and provides tools to support young people to express their views. Through the creation and sharing of blogs, poems, illustrations, photography and videos Voices of Youth amplifies the voices of young people in a bid to tell the world about issues that they care about.
There is also an option to share quick flashes of positivity and inspire other young people by igniting a spark.
We encourage all those who are passionate about supporting young people to express their views to raise awareness of Voices of Youth and support young people’s engagement with this platform. Leave a comment below to share your views.
Watch this space!
We’ll be publishing a new blog here every day this week so keep an eye on @ScotGovEngage for blog announcements or check back here.
Tags: children and young people, children's rights, digital democracy, digital engagement
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Hi blogs.gov.scot admin, Your posts are always well-received and appreciated.