UNCRC Lets Get it Right

Article 42 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that Governments should make the convention known to all parents and children. The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to raising awareness of the convention and as part of this commitment last year (2009) saw us raising awareness through attendance at various summer shows across Wales, and a celebratory event at the Senedd in November to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Convention.

This year (2010) our main theme is around promoting positive images of children and young people in Wales and the positive contributions that they give to society. Have a read below to see what the Welsh Assembly Government has been, and is doing in Wales to raise awareness of the UNCRC and improve the lives of children and young people in Wales.

20th Anniversary November 2009
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the UNCRC by the UN General Committee, the Welsh Assembly Government held a small scale event at the Senedd on the 20th of November 2009.

The event was attended by the then Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills Jane Hutt, who launched the Welsh Assembly Government’s Action Plan ‘Getting it Right’ which sets out actions for taking forward the UNCRC over the next 5 years in Wales.

The Minister was joined by the First Minister and the Children’s Commissioner for Wales along with children, young people and adults that had been involved in the piloting of a raising awareness workshop toolkit that was also launched on the day, with the aim of helping professionals and practitioners teach children and young people about their rights. Check out the video of the 20th Anniversary event below!

In order to further raise awareness of the Convention a national competition was also launched encouraging children and young people to share with us their aspirations for the UNCRC over the next 20 years. The competition was a huge success with entries from all across Wales, check out the winning entries section, showcasing the winners.

Raising Awareness Toolkit
A raising awareness toolkit was developed as part of the programme of activities leading up to the 20th anniversary in November 2009. Work moving forward with the existing Toolkit includes the creation of an additional SEN (Special Educational Needs) module. The specialised toolkit has been developed and piloted in a number SEN settings and will be available in summer 2010.

Promoting Positive Images: 21st Anniversary November 2010

A priority within “Getting it Right” and a joint priority for the UK State Party and partners across Wales is to promote positive images of children and young people as a way to address the negative perceptions reported in recent research studies.

Planning for the 21st Anniversary event to take place at the Senedd on the 19th of November is currently underway. The focus for all activity and outputs this year will be to promote positive images of children and young people and raise awareness of the positive contribution/achievements they make to society through events, written materials and PR. The outputs of which will be utilised much wider in related Welsh Assembly Government marketing and communications activity to ensure messages around UNCRC are cross promoted.

Promoting Positive Images Toolkit
A new toolkit will be developed to support children, young people and those that work with them to promote and raise awareness of the positive contribution that children and young people make to society to help address the current level of negative perceptions by the public.

The toolkit aims to give children, young people and staff working in informal and non formal settings the creative resources to feel more confident when promoting positive images and celebrating success within their community and at a local and national level. It will provide support, advice and guidance so that children, young people and those that work with them can effectively contribute and highlight the positive contribution children and young people make to society. The toolkit will help to develop skills and confidence in children and young people and will include literacy, presentation, media based skills etc. This resource will be added to the Toolkit section in due course!!!!

Proposed Children and Young People’s Rights (Wales) Measure
The proposed Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure will embed the Welsh Assembly Governments rights-based approach to policy making and strengthen and maintain momentum towards full realisation of children and young people’s rights in general in Wales.

The main duty within the proposed Measure is placed on Assembly Government Ministers. It requires them to have due regard to the substantive rights and obligations within the UNCRC and its Optional Protocols when they are making strategic decisions about how to exercise functions which they exercise. The Proposed Measure also requires the Welsh Ministers to make a Children’s Scheme.

Following our recent consultation on the Proposed Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure, we have carefully considered all the feedback we received.
All responses to the consultation have now been published and can be found on the Welsh Assembly Government website at:
http://new.wales.gov.uk/consultations/education/righsofchildrenyoung/?lang=en&status=closed
The Proposed Measure was laid on Monday 14th June and it was introduced in Plenary by Huw Lewis, the Deputy Minister for Children on Tuesday 15th June 2010.
Attached is the link to the documents which has been laid before the National Assembly for Wales:
http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-legislation/bus-leg-measures/business-legislation-measures-rightsofchildren.htm