October 2009

Good progress, but could do better: putting children's rights into practice

Children's rights are more than window dressing - they are the key to a good childhood and a good life, according to the latest issue of Children in Europe magazine.

As the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child approaches there has been clear progress in how children's rights are working for children: but 'could do better' is the verdict where countries, organisations and individuals have treated children's rights as marginal, and in the continued impact of child poverty and inequality.

Children in Europe Issue 17, Twenty years of children's rights, reviews the development of children's rights from national government level to individual practice in the nursery or kindergarten. Progress has been made, with most UN member states now having a Commissioner for Children and Young People or an equivalent position: Maalfrid Grude Flekkoy, the first person to hold such a role as Norway's Ombudsman for Children, reflects on changes in the field. Looking ahead children's rights are set to become a priority issue for the European Union with the development of a European child rights strategy, while a preschool programme in Croatia forms a central part of the national education strategy in human rights.

However poverty and inequality remain barriers to participation and being heard, and accounts of work with children living in poverty in Belgium and Greece point to different ways to tackle these.

Convenor of Children in Scotland The Right Honourable Lord Robert Reed, a judge for many years and a member of the Scottish Court of Appeal, said: "The UNCRC has had a major impact on Scots law and its influence is steadily growing. It is not of course only certain marginalised groups for whom it is important, but for all children. It is important in ensuring children's voices are heard in proceedings that affect them, and throws down a strong challenge for the future."