Letter sent to SNP leadership candidates asking for all families to be valued and respected
17/03/2023
News
On 15 March, a joint letter from 13 charities, led by OPFS, was sent to SNP leadership candidates, asking them to commit to making policies based on the principle that “all types of families are equally valid, valued and respected, whatever their make-up”.
The letter
15th March 2023
Dear Kate Forbes MSP, Ash Regan MSP, and Humza Yousaf MSP,
We are writing to you today, along with 12 other children and families charities, as one of the candidates taking part in the SNP leadership election.
In Scotland today, families in all their different shapes and sizes are the foundation of our society and our future. We believe family diversity is something to be celebrated. We also recognise how important it is for children to know that all types of families are equally valued and treated with the same degree of respect, and that no one family type is superior to another.
It is our strong belief that our new First Minister must be seen by all of Scotland’s children as a person who sees them as equal citizens and that their family is equally valued. This is clearly expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Scottish Government has signed up to.
This international human rights treaty sets out the rights of children, which includes that children should not face discrimination, ‘whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities, or any other status, whatever they think or say, whatever their family background’.
We are asking if you will commit to policy-making that is based firmly on the principle that all families, whatever their make-up, are equally valid, valued, and respected?
We look forward to hearing from you and to working with whomever becomes First Minister to challenge stereotypes and prejudice by celebrating and affirming that different families are equally valid and that what matters is that children are well cared for and loved.
Yours sincerely,
The signatories
Satwat Rehman, Chief Executive of One Parent Families Scotland
SallyAnn Kelly, Chief Executive of Aberlour
Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland
Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children 1st
Dr Judith Turbyne, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland
Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director of Close the Gap
Professor Nancy Loucks, Chief Executive of Families Outside
Laura Millar, Strategic Manager of Fife Gingerbread
Martin Dorchester, CEO of Includem
Margaret Gibb, Interim CEO of Parenting Across Scotland
Lesley Kelly, Trustee of Parenting Across Scotland
Claire Telfer, Head of Scotland, Save the Children
Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Women’s Aid
Juliet Harris, Director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)
Margaret Gibb, Interim CEO of Parenting Across Scotland
Lesley Kelly, Trustee of Parenting Across Scotland
Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Women’s Aid
Juliet Harris, Director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)
