‘Rights! The Missing Piece’ is a resource made by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) to call for a rights-based approach to tackling childhood adversity.
In order for MSYPs to call for strong rights protection as a shield to childhood adversity, they called on their MSPs and National Voluntary Organisations (NVO) directors to engage in a Scotland-wide puzzle. At our 70th national Sitting, when the resource was launched, MSYPs sent letters to all MSPs and NVOs. Each letter contained a ‘missing’ puzzle piece and an invitation to drop by the SYP office in Edinburgh to return the pieces before 20th November 2019, World Children’s Day.
When dropping off their missing puzzle piece, MSPs and NVO directors were greeted by MSYPs or staff members to learn more about the connection between human rights and ACEs.
MSPs and NVO directors were challenged to complete this puzzle:
77% of the Scottish Cabinet returned their missing pieces
Challenge accepted, 77% of the Scottish Cabinet took part in the puzzle! The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, returned the last missing piece to the puzzle on World Children’s Day at a Scottish Parliament reception hosted by Unicef. Earlier in the day, the Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP made a welcomed announcement that the Scottish Government will be directly and fully incorporating the UNCRC into Scots Law before 2021.
Fiona Hyslop MSP 
Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP
Scottish Labour, Green, and Conservative party leaders also returned their missing pieces:
Richard Leonard MSP 
Patrick Harvie MSP 
Jackson Carlaw MSP
Representatives from every political party engaged with the jigsaw activity in person.
5 National Voluntary Organisations leaders or representatives joined in the jigsaw activity, including:
Denise Spence, Girlguiding Scotland 
James Adams, Director of RNIB Scotland
The completed puzzle now takes pride of place framed in the SYP office. Thank you to everyone who engaged in the activity, especially during such a busy period in the lead up to the General Election. But…a jigsaw is just the beginning of a long journey towards the implementation of human rights protection as a shield to childhood adversity. Make sure you’ve read our resource here.
