UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Human rights cannot be given or taken away. We all have them.
Human rights are not earned and they do not come with responsibilities.
Children and young people have the same human rights as adults as well as specific children’s rights under the UNCRC.
What is the UNCRC?
The UNCRC sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to.
Of the 54 articles in the UNCRC, 42 of these are children’s rights. Four are known as General Principles:
- Article 2 – Non-discrimination
- Article 3 – The best interests of the child
- Article 6 – The right to life, survival and development
- Article 12 – The right to be heard
All articles can be found on the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland website in an easy read format.
You can also listen to Sebastian, age 6 and a half, talk about children’s rights in Scotland in this short video from I Am Me Scotland.
Further Information
You may want to look at information on children’s rights from the Scottish Government website Parent Club.
Parent Club have also produced a Children’s Rights Guide which you can download below:
