1. An introduction to children’s rights

2. Group activity

3. agenda What are human rights? Why children’s rights? The UNCRC Children’s rights in Wales Children’s rights for the media Reflection and evaluation

4. Core Principles of Human Rights Universal Inalienable Indivisible Accountable

5. FREDA principles Fairness and freedom Respect Equality Dignity Autonomy

6. Why do children need separate rights? Maturity Voiceless and invisible Possessions

7. Wants, Needs and Rights Want - a desire for something Need - the state of requiring help, or of lacking basic necessities such as food Right - a moral or legal entitlement to have or do something

8. The 4 Components of a Right 1.The Rights Holder (a human being ) 2.The Object (the thing they have a right to) 3.The Obligated (people or institutions - “duty bearers”) 4.The Justification (greater human dignity, societal development, a peaceful society)

9. Body of Rights

10. The UNCRC 54 articles 41 substantive articles 3 domains

11. 4 underpinning rights Article 2 - No discrimination Article 3 - Best interests of the child Article 6 - Right to life Article 12 - Right to be heard

12. National Children and Young People’s Participation Standards 1. Information- which is easy for children and young people to understand 2. It’s Your Choice – enough information and time to make an informed choice 3. No Discrimination - every young person has the same chance to participate. 4. Respect- Your opinion will be taken seriously 5. You get something out of it- You will enjoy the experience 6. Feedback- You will find out what difference your opinion has made 7. Improving how we work- Adults will ask you how they can improve how they work for the future

13. Implementing the right to education - an example GovernmentHas an obligation to find & allocate resources, define policy, achieve progress against targets Education institutions Have an obligation to train teachers, organise resources, create a child friendly environment TeachersHave an obligation to teach well, to encourage parents, to support all children ParentsShould support their children’s learning Children and young people Should respect other children in order to support their peers to exercise their rights

14. The reporting process Every 5 years Reports to the UN: –UK Government (inc section by WAG) –NGO report –Young peoples report –Children’s Commisioners’ report (4 nations) Concluding observations WAG action plan Monitoring group

15. Coffee break

16. UN Concluding Observations 2008 relevant to the media 1 WAG/UK government must 1.Provide training on the UNCRC for all adults working with children, including the media 2.Better protect children against discrimination by urgently dealing with the intolerance and negative stereotypes of children and young people in society and the media 3.Do more to raise awareness about and prevent discrimination against children. This might need to include work to help certain groups of children including traveller children; migrant children; young refugees and asylum seekers; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children; and children from minority groups

17. UN Concluding Observations 2008 relevant to the media 2 WAG/UK government must 4.Make sure that children are protected in law and in practice against unlawful or unnecessary interference with their right to privacy 5.Introduce stronger rules to protect information about children 6.Do more to respect the privacy of children in the media, and especially to avoid publicly shaming children. This should be done in partnership with the media. 7.Make rules about children’s involvement in (especially reality shows) to make sure their rights are not ignored

18. Children’s Rights legislation & policy in Wales 2004 Children Act – WAG adopted UNCRC as basis for all policy for children Seven core aims – based on UNCRC National Action Plan – Getting it Right 2009 - addressing 16 priorities for Wales Children and Families (Wales) Measure - passed in 2010 Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure - Ministers will have to pay due regard to the UNCRC in all decisions they take

19. Articles most relevant to the media Article 2 – the Convention applies to all children and young people aged up to 17 Article 3 – All organisations should work towards the best interests of the child Article 6 – right to life and survive and develop healthily Article 12 – right to be heard and to participate Article 13 – right to get and to share information Article 15 – right to meet with other children and young people Article 16 – right to privacy Article 17 – right to reliable information from the mass media

20. Think of a child …

21. Putting learning into practice

22. Any final questions?