This comes with deliberate investment and strategic focus on the brilliant prevention work being done in the third and feminist sectors 👆

Thankyou to First Minister for recognising the voices of our young people and Children's Parliament in last month’s Cabinet Takeover as we called for more action on ending gendered violence. You can read more about our Takeover here: syp.org.uk/children-and-y…

Enjoy my live tweeting ya’ll 💅

💬 Yesterday, MSYPs got to see their advocacy work in action as they watched the live debate on Empowering Young People’s Voices in Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls 🤝 Thanks to First Minister John Swinney and @KaukabStewart for working with our young people in this space

Thankyou @ZTScotland for organising a great event last night. We discussed how to make the conversations on gender equality and VAWG more accessible so to enable more men to engage, & the critical role of strategic communications in achieving this. Always lovely to see everyone!

🗓️ As we approach the end of 2024, we've been reflecting on the year that was for SYP! ⬇️ Read our thread below to see what MSYPs have been up to while representing young people's voices this year:

Thank you Scottish Youth Parliament for meeting with Martin Whitfield MSP and I today. Was a great chance to discuss youth work, mental health, education reform, gender based violence and more! Young people can and do lead change and speaking with the SYP today it was so clear to see why🙂.

Very proud of our MSYPs as they went before the ECYP Committee last week to discuss education reform, behaviour in schools, the importance of youth work and - most importantly - how to ensure young people have agency in all decisions impacting them.

Scottish Youth Parliament has launched a consultation for our upcoming 2026 - 31 Manifesto. This is a great opportunity for young people across Scotland to feed directly into our campaigning work for the next five years! Let us know what matters to you. smartsurvey.co.uk/s/P6OZ65/

Great couple of days at SCVO ‘s the Gathering, learning about everything from civic society’s role in being anti-racist, to investing in women in the workplace, and hearing from Kirsty McNeill MP for improving the relationship between UK Gov & the Scottish third sector!

It was great to speak with MSYPs from across the country about my Youth Work Bill. This bill will create real change for young people, with their voices and youth workers shaping its journey. Together, we can ensure youth work gets the recognition and support it deserves.

As always, Engender brought together another excellent conference on Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls in Policymaking. Talking about enablers and blockers of change making, connecting with old friends and making new, and dissecting public policy!

I was pleased to lodge the below motion to mark the launch of a consultation on Scottish Youth Parliament's 2026 manifesto. I encourage all young people aged 12 to 25 across Scotland to respond to the consultation and ensure your views are represented.

Our Manifesto will shape the direction for SYP for the next five years and then beyond through the impact we make and legacy we set. A crucial piece of work, and we want to ensure it represents young people from all communities and areas in Scotland: smartsurvey.co.uk/s/P6OZ65/

Aside from admiring the view, we spent the morning working with Ofcom to reflect on their new guidance for improving online safety for girls and women. Civil service, Scottish Gov, charities and the private sector all collaborating together to protect, empower and support 🤝

1 in 2 young women do not trust politicians to represent them and advocate for their human rights, and expressed a lot of anxiety about the regression of women’s rights. Scotland needs to be doing so much more to protect, equip and empower young people. youngwomenscot.org/research-repor…

Sunshine in Stockholm 🇸🇪

Now we should continue to push for enfranchisement for 16 and 17 year olds across the whole of the UK, to ensure that young people’s voices are heard in all decision-making and their human rights are upheld 🗳️