Developing and implementing an awareness strategy for the effective implementation of Art. 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Centre, in partnership with the Perth College Development Trust, and with funding support from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, completed a six-month project to raise awareness of and develop tools to promote a wider understanding of children¿s rights.

The project concentrated on the implementation of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which affords children the right to be heard and have their views taken seriously

This project¿s aim was to raise human rights awareness on the right of the child to be heard pursuant to Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, viz, the right of children to be heard in all matters affecting them.

The project was devised in light of criticism from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that, although much has been done legislatively towards promoting Article 12, those measures often fail to filter through and be realised in practice.

The project adopted an `action-based¿ research approach, simultaneously gathering and disseminating information in a series of workshops with professional groups including stakeholders in fields of law, education, social work and healthcare.