TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrating Sustainable Development and Children’s Rights
T2 - A Case Study on Wales
AU - Croke, Rhian
AU - Dale, Helen
AU - Dunhill, Ally
AU - Roberts, Arwyn
AU - Unnithan, Malvika
AU - Williams, Jane
N1 - This article belongs to the Special Issue Children’s Rights from a Sustainability Perspective: The UNCRC in Dialogue with Agenda 2030.
PY - 2021/3/11
Y1 - 2021/3/11
N2 - The global disconnect between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has been described as ‘a missed opportunity’. Since devolution, the Welsh Government has actively pursued a ‘sustainable development’ and a ‘children’s rights’ agenda. However, until recently, these separate agendas also did not contribute to each other, although they culminated in two radical and innovative pieces of legislation; the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure (2013) and the Well-being and Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015). This article offers a case study that draws upon the SDGs and the CRC and considers how recent guidance to Welsh public bodies for implementation attempts to contribute to a more integrated approach. It suggests that successful integration requires recognition of the importance of including children in deliberative processes, using both formal mechanisms, such as local authority youth forums, pupil councils and a national youth parliament, and informal mechanisms, such as child-led research, that enable children to initiate and influence sustainable change.
AB - The global disconnect between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has been described as ‘a missed opportunity’. Since devolution, the Welsh Government has actively pursued a ‘sustainable development’ and a ‘children’s rights’ agenda. However, until recently, these separate agendas also did not contribute to each other, although they culminated in two radical and innovative pieces of legislation; the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure (2013) and the Well-being and Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015). This article offers a case study that draws upon the SDGs and the CRC and considers how recent guidance to Welsh public bodies for implementation attempts to contribute to a more integrated approach. It suggests that successful integration requires recognition of the importance of including children in deliberative processes, using both formal mechanisms, such as local authority youth forums, pupil councils and a national youth parliament, and informal mechanisms, such as child-led research, that enable children to initiate and influence sustainable change.
KW - children’s rights
KW - sustainable development
KW - children’s participation in decision making
KW - Wales
KW - devolution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102927598&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/socsci10030100
DO - 10.3390/socsci10030100
M3 - Article
SN - 2076-0760
VL - 10
JO - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
IS - 3
M1 - 100
ER -