The Annual Cabinet Meeting on the Global Stage

Children’s participation is particularly testing to our adult attitudes, systems and ways of working. This is true in everyday practices – whether in family homes, early year settings and schools, or community spaces – and even more so when addressing power in national policy-making.

Scotland is at the forefront of recognising children’s participation rights. By incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into Scots domestic law, through the 2024 Act, Scotland has become a leader internationally. Along with provision, prevention and protection rights, the CRC details a collection of participation rights for children. These include children’s rights to receive and give information and, individually and collectively, for their views to be given due weight in all matters that affect them. And consistently we know from research and engagement with children that they do very much want to have a say.

The ‘Annual Cabinet’ meeting is a notable initiative, symbolically and practically, that recognises children’s participation rights at the highest levels of Scottish policy-making. As documented in the recent blogs ‘Journey to the Annual Cabinet Meeting’ and ‘Young Ambassador’s Report’, Children’s Human Rights Defenders from the Children’s Parliament, and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, undertake a process of investigation and collective action, leading up to a meeting with the Scottish Government’s Cabinet.

I have had the chance to work on a number of collaborative projects, seeking to learn from ‘promising practice’ on children and young people’s participation rights in countries ranging from Brazil, Canada, India to South Africa. People are amazed when I share with them developments in Scotland, which have three notable features:

First, the ‘Annual Cabinet’ meeting is no longer a ‘one-off event’, high on visibility and photo opportunities but low on meaningful engagement. It is a process that engages with different parts of the Scottish Government – from senior civil servants in the Executive, to the policy leads working on the priority areas identified by children – that recognises requirements for feedback and demonstrable impacts on policy decision-making. The Scottish Government has made a commitment to the process, with the 7^th meeting happening in December 2024, providing opportunities for continuous improvement and sustainability.

Second, the process involves younger children. Working in many contexts out with Scotland, there is a predominance of older children – young people and indeed youth – having access to policy-making. But the CRC is very clear: all children have rights, as outlined in the CRC, until the age of 18. As is demonstrated in the recent blog and other initiatives, there is ample evidence that children of all ages can be supported to develop and provide their views on policy issues.

Third, the process is committed to being child-led rather than adult-led. Other contexts have not found this easy, as we found in a recent policy assessment of 6 countries (see note below for information). When participation structures are fragile, non-governmental organisations may be able to support governments so that children can participate – but, drawing on their mandates, a reliance on such organisations can easily skew which children participate and which issues are raised. Even when countries invest in training decision-makers, there is a need to go beyond ‘tick box’ participation, to ensuring it is meaningful, children know what has happened to their views, and there are real impacts on decision-making.

But learning from Scotland and elsewhere, we have important lessons for really ensuring children’s participation rights are respected, fulfilled and supported. We need to realise children’s participation requires resources and particularly if we are to involve children who are not usually involved. This means recognising the practicalities – if there is an online meeting, where will it happen, is there working technology and available wifi – and the absolute need to invest in building relationships – between the children themselves and between the children and the policy-makers. The process needs to go far beyond the identification of issues. If that were all that it did, we could do so this systematically and widely through other means. The value of this process is working together, with each bringing their skills and expertise, to co-developing solutions.

It is challenging to recognise children’s participation rights. It is about adults being willing to change their attitudes, systems and ways of working. The ‘Annual Cabinet’ meeting is one part of a broader culture change that we need in Scotland, to truly ‘making children’s rights real’. As part of the International and Canadian Child Right Partnership, we look forward to learning from the CHRD and the Annual Cabinet process, sharing this with other child activist groups and partner agencies, to promote this culture change here in Scotland and globally.

Kay Tisdall is Professor of Childhood Policy. She is a member of the Childhood & Youth Studies Group, MHSES University of Edinburgh.

The policy review of 6 countries will be published shortly:

Tisdall, E.K.M. and Padilla, K.  Policy Assessment: National governance and infrastructures supporting children and young people’s collective participation in public decision-making.

The policy review informs the Joining Forces campaign, as referred to in this overall report that includes both policy and involvement of children and young people

This blog draws on collaborative work, including:

Children and Families Affected by Domestic Abuse (CAFADA) https://cafada.stir.ac.uk/

International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) https://www.torontomu.ca/international-canadian-child-rights-partnership/

Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland (including recent funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant awarded to the University of Edinburgh (grant reference ES/X00466X/1))Safe, Inclusive and Participative Pedagogy https://www.sipp.education.ed.ac.uk/