The Scottish Government has been consulting on its proposed Children and Young People’s Bill. This Bill will incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scottish law. The Scottish Government plans to place a requirement on public bodies to promote child rights and to report on how they are seeking to do so. The consultation proposes also to give the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People the power to undertake investigations into individual cases where it is alleged that a child or young person’s rights have been infringed.

CARE for Scotland responded to the consultation by emphasising that promotion of children’s rights must be balanced with respect for the rights of parents. We pointed out that parental rights and responsibilities are recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and argued that Scottish public bodies should not see child rights in isolation from the context of the wider family. We emphasised that an environment where children are brought up by loving married parents is the best means to ensure that the rights of children are respected.

Prayer: Please pray that the Scottish Government will recognise the importance of marriage for children’s development. Pray that the Scottish Government will be willing to implement an active programme to support marriage within the policy areas which are devolved to the Scottish Parliament.