Sunday 13 July 2014

Why we must talk about the UN Convention on the Right of the Child more

In 1989 world leaders officially recognised the human rights of all children and young people under 18 by signing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - the most comprehensive and wide ranging articulation of children and young people's rights ever. All UN member states (except the United States and Somalia) approved the Convention. It came into force in the UK in January 1992 (over 22 years ago!)

Today I re-read again the summary of the Convention in preparation for writing an article. Each time I read it I am always struck how brilliant and important it is. And I am also struck that in the youth sector the Convention remains under the radar from policy and discussions. In that context Article 42 - Government must make the Convention known to children and adults - is very important.

Department for Education is the lead department for fulfilling governments obligations within the Convention. DfE is also the sponsoring Department for the Office of the Children's Commissioner.  Maggie Atkinson is the Children's Commissioner for England. The Commissioner has a legal duty to promote the rights of all children in England (find out more at www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

More than a Convention, after 22 years it is also an institution: but one we don't talk about and integrate into our work nearly enough in England. Scotland seems to be much better at integrating the Rights in many areas of policy including sexual health.

Brook has adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.  The rights frame our strategy. We have recently reviewed all of our policies and procedures and included  the related Articles from the UN Convention at the heart of them. Article 12 (respect for the views of the child), Article 13 (freedom of expression), Article 24 (health and health services), Article 28 (right to education), Article 34 (sexual exploitation) are some of the key Articles for Brook. It brings to life our commitment to the rights and how they apply and guide our everyday work.

With this process fresh in my mind I have been increasingly aware of the absence of the UN Convention in discussions, committee terms of reference, policy documents etc within health, education and care in England; and it has become ever more obvious that it would be helpful to frame all our work with young people and professionals in terms of the Convention.

I have therefore resolved to get much better at talking about it in all meetings, presentations, articles etc as part of Brook's organisational and my personal responsibility to ensure everybody knows about it - my help to you, Mr Gove, in ensuring Article 42 is realised. This short blog is my first step.

You can read a summary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child here - even if you think you know its contents it's worth re reading it every now and then, otherwise it sits at the back of our minds, rather than the front where it really does belong - www.unicef.org.uk/documents/publication-PDFs/uncrc_summary.pdf 

Could you do more to promote this fantastically important declaration of children and young people's rights? Can you imagine if all of us framed everything we did in this context what a difference it would make to the tone and nature of the debate about the culture, environment, education, services and support we create for and with children and young people? It has been around a long time, and now could be just the right time to amplify its message.

@simonablake @brookcharity @besexpositive

Thursday 29 May 2014

Before I die...

This week I have thought a lot about death. Frankly I hope that in writing about it I can stop thinking about it much more. I have always been interested in what it means to have a 'good life'.  When I was a child, Jean my mum's friend, used to tell me to 'try everything you can even if it is for no other reason than you can'.  Whether it is Jean's influence or otherwise I work hard and play hard and I am generally optimistic and happy.  I believe that when you die that is it - although I sometimes waver from this in conversations about Doris Stokes/or if you ask me about some of the weird things that happen at our place in Trebarwith - and so for me there is no after life to prepare for - it is only this life I have to play with.

A few weeks ago I went to a Genius Power Dreams workshop at PwC. They played this Ted Talk by artist Candy Chang, 'Before I die' - http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to - I recommend it. In her Ted talk Candy reminds us that it is 'easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget to focus on what really matters' - cues thoughts about what we can often end up prioritising, focusing on and getting bothered about at home or at work.

This week Maya Angelou died aged 86. What an inspiring woman. She lived a good life and will continue to inspire through her legacy. Closer to home a less well known, but a good man I was at Uni with also died.  He was 40.  He too had lived a good life. Too short, but a good life nonetheless - he had made a difference to people's lives - his wife and children, his family, the students he taught and the friends he made along the way.

This week I have been overtly reminded that few of us know how long we have to live a good life and make the difference we want to. A stark reminder and useful perspective to help create the dreams and hold on to hopes, guide the right decisions and bold actions and the appropriate compromises, to make sure we don't sweat the small stuff so we amplify or tone down our efforts to focus on what really matters.  

I am no expert on life and death. I know that being aware of your mortality does not mean trying to do everything today in case you die tomorrow but for me it does mean living my life so I know that when I die, be it next week, next year or in 40 years time I can do so with a smile on my face knowing I have laughed, loved, lived and helped, doing the best I can with the time I have had. That is my hope before I die.

Sunday 13 April 2014

Why social media is important for Chief Executives

I was asked to write a blog about social media and CEOs so here it is - and i realised in the process that it doesn't quite fit on my blog about young people and sexuality so i have set up this one for more random musings on things that are not directly about young people, health and sexuality. 

I had an interesting twitter exchange earlier this week about whether and if we should be 'making a fuss' and celebrating and encouraging social CEOs. I understood their point that its isn't rocket science and it got me thinking. So here, my thoughts on being a charity CEO and why we have to get to grips to social media.

Using social media means much more for CEOs and organisations than a twitter account or a blog, it challenges long held traditions and orthodoxies in communication. It shifts how we connect and communicate with those around us and has huge potential to amplify our voice with and on behalf of users. It has created new boundaries between us and our staff, trustees, funders, service users, friends and between our personal, social, private and work interests and lives. It makes us more open to scrutiny, challenge and praise. It potentially makes us 'fair game' for the media, for partners, our objectors and our supporters for more hours each day, more days each week and more weeks each year.

Social media also makes it less possible or desirable for us to rely on well polished press releases, sentences well crafted by others with perfectly formed opinions. It makes it much more likely differences of opinion within your organisation are discussed in public (and potentially exposed) and it makes every speech you do, every swear word that slips out potentially public. Others demand more of us, and in return we demand more of ourselves and of others, including our staff and our suppliers.

For all those reasons and many more social media is revolutionising the way we lead, the way we live and the way we connect with ourselves and others. It is changing the way we in the voluntary sector expect to achieve change and create the better world we seek. That makes it a big deal.

And that is why we must embrace social media as CEOs - leading our organisations to maximise the benefits it brings in helping us achieve the change we seek. Who better to experiment, make mistakes and give others in our organisation the permission to do so themselves? 

At Brook  it is my responsibility to experience what it means to redefine personal, professional and organisational boundaries and to recreate the rules of the game with brave and bold exploration. I understand it is my job, along with others at Brook, to learn what works and how to get it right for ourselves and for our organisation. In learning those lessons - some publicly - there is of course potential for ego bruising. Good humour and humility are vital.

What it means, of course, to get it right and wrong will be different for all of us and it is very clear that now, perhaps more than ever, it is an organisation’s values that are the glue.

If we get it right we have the opportunity to do at least the following 10 things;

1. Give voice to our service users - we have @besexpositive run by young volunteers
2. Shine a light on different parts of your work in bite size pieces - through @brookcharity and www.simonatbrookcharity.blogspot.com we try to do this
3. Connect with our staff teams, service users and others
4. Communicate informally with trustees, funders and others who want to keep up with your work between formal reports
5. Identify and talk with new people, find and learn from supporters and fellow travellers across the globe
6. Create interest in what you are trying to achieve, get peopel's stories (as we do through www.wecantgobackwards.org.uk) and enable people to support your goals and your organisation
7. Join people into an event or occasions when they can't be there,  as we do with the UK Sexual Health Awards (@shukawards)
8. Profile and thank those who work hard to help us and the young people we serve
9. Reach large groups of people in cost effective, timely ways
10. Help people know and trust you as a person and an organisation - vital in leadership

And much much more. Social media is not an optional extra for CEOs. It cannot be the job of a young intern who gets 'this stuff'. Social media is overwhelmingly a force for good. The world we live in has changed forever. Leadership is the number one responsibility of all CEOs. If you haven't already, i hope this article will encourage you to put social media on your to do list.  

Follow me @simonablake and www.simonatbrookcharity.blogspot.com for all  on all things young people and health  and this my new blog www.simonablake@blogspot.com for all other things I might have something to say about and @brookcharity @besexpositive @xescampaign