Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Children's Rights learning site

Getting Ready for the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024

On Tuesday 16^th of January 2024, Royal assent was granted for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Bill meaning it is now officially an Act. Most of its provisions came into force on Tuesday 16^th July 2024.

Every service within the NHS has a responsibility to uphold children’s rights, including services that don’t normally work directly with babies, children and young people and other services within NHS Boards.

The Women, Children, Young People, and Families (WCYPF) team at NHS Education for Scotland continue to host a UNCRC Webinar Series for the Health and Social Care Workforce.  The series offers an opportunity for continuing professional development (CPD) and collaborative learning to embed a culture of every day responsibility for children's rights.

Following the incorporation of the  UNCRC into Scots law, NES hosted a virtual UNCRC Health Conference, which offered a timely opportunity to explore how NHS Scotland is responding to its new legal duties to uphold children’s rights across all services and settings.

Please use the links below to jump to the webinar resources for that specific topic, or scroll up and down the page.

Taking a Children’s Rights Approach to Your Work

How the voice of babies, children and young people can enhance our work 

Seldom Heard Voices – Enabling a Culture of Everyday Accountability for Children’s Rights.  The Right to the Best Possible Health 

Participation – A Practical Guide to Participation with Children and Young People

Transitions – Enabling a culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights NES and Improvement Service

UNCRC in Practice – Child Friendly Communications

UNCRC Virtual Health Conference 2025

​Taking a Children’s Rights Approach to Your Work

Webinar resources from the WCYPF UNCRC Webinar Series, Getting Ready for the UNCRC - Taking a Children's Rights Approach to Your Work, which was hosted on Thursday 14 March 2024.

In the 90-minute webinar, Children in Scotland joined to discuss the important role we all have in upholding children’s rights and how to embed a children’s rights approach in your work. We know there is already lots of good practice across the organisation and examples of these were explored during the session and how we can link our work with those rights to create positive outcomes for babies, children, and young people. 

The webinar aimed to:

• Describe the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
• Identify what a children’s right approach is and help to apply the approach to your work.
• Examine the implications of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 for your area of work.

This webinar was not recorded

​How the voice of babies, children and young people can enhance our work

Webinar resources from the WCYPF UNCRC Webinar Series - Getting Ready for the UNCRC - How the voices of babies, children and young people can enhance our work, which was hosted on Wednesday 27 March 2024.

In this 90-minute webinar, we were joined by the Scottish Youth Parliament, Starcatchers, and Early Years Scotland to explore the importance of the voices of babies, children, and young people in the implementation of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 and how we can be effectively informed by those views.  

This webinar included:

• The voice of the baby

• The importance of children and young people’s voices in realising their rights

• How we can effectively and efficiently be informed by the views of babies, children, and young people to improve our services within NHS Scotland.

This webinar was not recorded.

​Enabling a Culture of Everyday Accountability for Children’s Rights.  The Right to the Best Possible Health

Webinar resources from the WCYPF UNCRC Webinar Series - Seldom Heard Voices, which was hosted on Wednesday 20 November 2024.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 24

Children and young people have the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and wellbeing so that children can stay healthy.

This webinar aimed to:

• Consider the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 and Article 24 for children, young people and their families, especially those who might be furthest away from their rights and therefore seldom heard. 

We:

• Provided an overview of the UNCRC in Scotland and article 24 within the context of health and social care.

• Explored the challenges children and young people might face in accessing health information and/or health and social care services.

• Considered the evidence from research, policy and practice.

• Shared examples from practice which have a positive impact on children’s rights.

Target Audience:

• All levels of Health and Social Care

This webinar was not recorded.  However, a section of the event was unable to be shown due to technical issues and is available below.

Due to a technical issue with Microsoft Teams on the day of the live event, some delegates were unable to view the video recording or hear any sound of a pre recorded presentation.  As a result of the technical issue, the recording will be available for a short time below.  Apologies this was cut short on the day of the live event.

​A Practical Guide to Participation with Children and Young People

Webinar resources from the WCYPF UNCRC Webinar Series - Participation, which was hosted on Monday 02 December 2024.

This webinar offered participants a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively implement child participation in line with the UNCRC.  The session provided practical guidance, tools, and real examples to ensure children are meaningfully engaged within health and social care decision making.

Presenters:

• Health Improvement Scotland community engagement team

• Cathy McCulloch OBE, Director at Children's Parliament

• Nick Targontsidis, Specialist Lead: UNCRC

Target Audience:

• All levels of Health and Social Care

This webinar was not recorded.

Knowing the UNCRC - Useful Resources

The Right Way - Scottish Youth Parliament 

Getting ready for UNCRC framework

Statutory Guidance (part 2)

Statutory guidance (part 3)

UNCRC Symbols Poster (designed by children)

UNCRC Symbols - British Sign Language - The Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland

Participation Toolkit | HIS Engage

​Enabling a culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights NES and Improvement Service

Webinar resources from the WCYPF UNCRC Webinar Series - Transitions, which was hosted on Wednesday 29 January 2025.

We know that for many disabled young people the transition to young adult life presents challenges. It is therefore critical that we support disabled young people to have as positive an experience as possible during this time of change. This is not a single event, but a process which takes place over a number of years. 

The webinar aimed to:

• Provide an overview of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 and children’s rights.

• Give an opportunity to hear from young people about their experiences of transition.

• Presented the key principles of good transitions.

• Provide an update about the transitions to adulthood strategy.

• Offer practical information about tools/resources that can be used in practice to support good transitions.

Presenters:

• NHS Education Scotland and the Improvement Service

• Children and Families Directorate, Scottish Government

• Association for Real Change (ARC)

This webinar was not recorded.