CRC is an international human rights treaty adopted in 1989. The UK agreed to follow it in 1991.
By following CRC, the UK agrees that public bodies should consider the best interests of the child when doing anything that affects children. CRC protects the rights of children in all areas of their life, including their rights to:
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life, survival and development
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freedom from violence, abuse and neglect
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express their views in matters affecting them, including in legal proceedings
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education
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an adequate standard of living
Human rights tracker
Search our human rights tracker to find all UN recommendations for CRC and other treaties. The CRC page has specific information on how it is monitored and if the UK is meeting international standards.
How the UK is doing
The UN last examined how well the UK is implementing the treaty in May 2016 and published its recommendations in June 2016. These included:
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enhancing the status of the CRC and incorporating the treaty into UK domestic law
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re-establishing targets for the reduction of child poverty, and assessing the cumulative impact of social security reforms on children
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collecting comprehensive data on children’s mental health and increasing investment in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
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reducing the impact of social background or disabilities on children’s educational achievement
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ensuring meaningful sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum
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strengthening protections of the rights of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children
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raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility
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abolishing the use of restraint against children for disciplinary purposes
Our work on CRC
The most recent work we have produced as part of our CRC monitoring includes:
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updated submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (April 2016) - Welsh version
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shadow report to the UN Committee on the UK’s implementation of the CRC (August 2015)
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a letter to the Minister for Children and Families (PDF), encouraging the government to implement the UN’s Concluding Observations (November 2016)
- an initial letter to the Minister for Children and Families (PDF), setting out our key priorities from the UN’s Concluding Observations (September 2016)
Last updated: 30 Oct 2019