The Children's Convention becomes a Swedish team

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is not a new phenomenon, but Sweden has been bound to follow it since 1990. Now it will therefore weigh as heavily as other Swedish laws. For state authorities, municipalities and regions, this means that work on children's rights needs to be sharpened, says Emma Fagerstrand, child rights expert at the Children's Consultants who helps authorities and municipalities learn how to apply the Children's Convention.

- It becomes even more important for all businesses to consider what we do in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We need to link the questions to our decisions and routines.

Many people think they are doing enough

A challenge in her work is that many businesses already believe that they are doing enough to live up to the Convention on the Rights of the Child because it has been around for so long, but she believes there is much more to be done.

- It fails when it comes to application. For example, children do not come to court in court proceedings so often or we do not always investigate children's individual asylum reasons but see children exclusively as part of a family, says child rights expert Emma Fagerstrand.

The law will be more noticeable in certain areas

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN exactly 30 years ago and Sweden was then one of the first countries to sign. Today, almost all countries in the world, except the United States, have agreed to follow the convention and half of them have made it their law. Titti Mattsson, professor of public law at Lund University, believes that the Children's Convention will become law in some areas more than others.

- In some parts, such as the social service, the school and the health service, we have already introduced certain parts of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, I believe that it will have the greatest impact in other businesses, such as urban planning. As a child, you may also be able to understand what is on the signs. You may need to think about their bus stops, for example if children are safe there or are out in traffic. You need to ensure the right of children to safety and the right of children to be citizens of society on equal terms, says Titti Mattsson, who has worked for many years with child rights issues.