SCOTLAND stands out in the UK with its protection of children’s rights, a new report has found.
The country has been praised for its approach – despite the UK overall ranking as one of the worst states in the world for respecting children’s rights.
The KidsRights Foundation ranked the Uk as 169 out of 182 countries on its respect for the rights of children.
Meanwhile the organisation noted that Scotland was the first devolved nation in the world to legislate to bring the UN Conventions of the Rights of the Child into law – something Westminster is set to challenge in the Supreme Court.
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It also praised Scotland for introducing “measures and policies to deal with the devastating impacts of the pandemic on its children”.
On the UN convention, the foundation notes that Scotland would make it unlawful for a public authority to act incompatibly with its requirements. Children must also be consulted on the proposal.
“This is very interesting and potential highly impactful way of going about child rights impact assessments and more broadly domesticating the CRC,” the foundation wrote.
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“On the latter, Scotland ‘is to become the first devolved nation in the world to directly incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. On both accounts, this is an example that deserves to be followed,” the report states.
SNP MSP Clare Adamson (below) said it was “very encouraging” to see Scotland’s approach to children’s rights praised. “Nothing shows that more than when the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to enshrine the UNCRC into Scots law.”
She went on: “By stark contrast, the Tory UK government is threatening to take the Scottish Government to court over the legislation in an attempt to thwart efforts to ensure children’s rights are respected in every decision that is made in Scotland.”
Meanwhile, the UK doesn’t need to look too far away to see strong records on children’s rights, with eight of the top 10 nations closeby.
The index uses data from Unicef, UNDP and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to gather information on children’s rights across the globe.
It measures 20 indicators across life, health, education, protection and environment to provide the full ranking.
Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, France, Denmark and Thailand made up the top 10 for 2021. The United Kingdom was ranked 169, behind Sudan and Iraq.
“This demonstrates once again the tale of two governments that Scotland is faced with, one in Edinburgh which is standing out on protecting the rights of children compared with the one at Westminster which will challenge those rights in court,” added Adamson.
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