Bruce Adamson on the transformative power of participation

In the realm of child rights advocacy, few individuals have been as dedicated and passionate as Bruce Adamson. As Scotland's former Commissioner for Children and Young People, Adamson tirelessly championed the rights of children and their active involvement in decision-making processes. In our interview, he sheds light on the significance of child participation, the challenges faced, and the progress made in promoting child rights in Scotland and beyond. 

When talking to a former children’s commissioner, it is natural for the conversation to be immediately rooted in child rights. Bruce Adamson is no exception, particularly when talking about children’s participation. For him, founding all participation in child rights is essential.  

“It’s not an act of charity, or optional”, he says.  

Yet, we often fail to see child participation as a part of legitimate decision-making that leads to better results for all, Adamson says - even though children play a constructive role from a very early age. Failure to invest in child participation can lead to significant costs, both socially and economically. 

“Only by involving children in decision-making are we going to get the best results and outcomes. The failure to do that leads to poorer outcomes that are more costly in the long run.” 

The Power of Children in Advocacy 

Good practices exist everywhere but Adamson believes that they need to be incorporated into law and supported by adequate budgets and capacity building to stand the test of time. Otherwise even good practices are vulnerable to political change.  

“During COVID-19 we saw that as soon as budgets were under pressure, much of the good practice in relation to children’s rights and participation disappeared”, Adamson says. 

One of the efforts to anchor child rights in legislation and hold governments accountable for their actions has been the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. The process is still ongoing, but its success in generating a cultural change in attitudes towards child rights has already been remarkable – not least because the campaign was initiated by children and young people themselves, Adamson says.  Their capacity to link child rights to tangible impacts in their daily lives was instrumental in convincing a skeptical government to make a commitment to legislative change, and to securing unanimous parliamentary support.  

Alongside the need for a strong legal framework, Adamson is a champion of the use of rights based budgeting and Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA). Early in the pandemic his office worked with civil society and academics to conduct an Independent CRIA on the state response to the pandemic.

“Despite clear recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and other human rights bodies, governments were failing to recognise the pandemic as a human rights crisis as well as a health crisis. Despite our repeated calls for them to use CRIA and a rights based approach, they refused to do so. Our Independent CRIA was a response to government failure, but it also provided an opportunity to demonstrate the value of rights based tools.“

Following the success in Scotland, Adamson and his team worked with colleagues from across the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) to develop a new common framework of reference for CRIA. ENOC also formed a partnership with UNICEF to undertake CRIA of the state responses to the pandemic in Europe and Central Asia. There is a long way to go for every child to be heard. Ensuring that the voices of the children in the most vulnerable situations are heard continues to be a persisting challenge. Decision-makers tend to favour older, more articulate children who fit into existing adult systems, Adamson says.

“Often the children whose rights are most at risk are the least involved in decision-making”, he says.  

For that reason, the Commissioner’s office has made efforts to include the voices of marginalised groups, emphasising that participation is about understanding the world as children perceive it, regardless of their communication methods. 

Sometimes this has meant focusing exclusively on specific groups of children. On a recent consultation around child rights and climate, the Commissioner’s team focused solely on pre-school age children. At other times, it has meant moving away from participatory processes that rely on the spoken word. The office’s investigation into the use of restraint and seclusion together children with complex needs required the office to work closely with families to interpret children’s non-verbal communication. 

Children Challenging a Framework Set by Adults 

Beyond adapting communication methods to different groups of children, Adamson stresses the importance of building trust with communities that have historically faced injustices. Working with local civil society and community-led organisations is crucial in gaining authentic insights and ensuring that children's participation is focused on their interests and priorities, not just those imposed by adults. 

“There is a risk that participation ends up being shaped by adult needs and priorities, rather than creating the space for children and young people to come up with their own”, he says. 

At times, these priorities surprise him. This year, the Commissioner’s Young Advisors took charge of investigative powers granted to the Commissioner’s office. They surprised Adamson by taking a targeted and technical focus on the provision of mental health counselling in schools, rather than the broad strategic review of mental health that he had expected.  This empowerment of young people led to surprising and innovative recommendations with real impact on decision-making, proving the value of child-led decision-making.

Adamson shares that children often challenge assumptions we make about how they would like to participate in decision-making. Contrary to his initial assumptions of the importance of digital environments, early in his mandate children told him to focus less on digital engagement in favour of community-based work in person. They challenged his office’s focus on its website and social media pointing out that they weren’t useful for younger children and of little interest to older children. Instead, they wanted in person engagement through school, established community groups, and events. They asked for educational materials such as leaflets, posters, and books rather than social media engagement.  This helped shape his approach throughout his mandate. It was fitting that Adamson concluded his mandate as Commissioner by developing a picture book called “Let’s Explore Our Rights” to help teach young children about their human rights. 

Child Participation on the Global Stage 

In his role as Commissioner, Adamson worked to promote children’s participation beyond Scotland. Scotland has actively participated in discussions in the United Nations, with young representatives contributing through arts-based projects and participation in state examinations.  

While Adamson is optimistic about the positive developments to increase participation in international fora, he sees a potential global economic downturn as a threat to meaningful participation. Often budget cuts are targeted to the services that are best at getting around children. 

“At times of economic pressure, the first things to go are the services that are enabling children’s effective participation in decision-making”, he says.  

These challenges come with opportunities to promote rights-based budgeting, child-friendly governance, and the fact that participation makes economic sense. For a passionate child rights advocate, this means a lot of work ahead. But Adamson always likes to give the last word to children and he reflects on a piece of advice a young child once gave him “Stand tall. Be brave. Think big. Believe.”

Bio

BIO: Bruce Adamson is a human rights lawyer. From 2017 to 2023, he was Children and Young People’s Commissioner of Scotland. Working directly with children he has secured legislative change in relation to the age of criminal responsibility, the physical punishment of children, and the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law. He has championed the role of child human rights defenders and worked extensively on children’s participation in UN mechanisms. Mr Adamson has worked as a human rights expert in over 20 countries for the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and NGOs. He was a Member of the Children’s Panel for 13 years, and has been the United Nations Representative for the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Chair of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, and Chair of the Scottish Child Law Centre.