The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an
international agreement that protects the human rights of children
under the age of 18. Human rights are guarantees that protect
individuals and groups from actions that affect their freedom and
human dignity. Human rights are things that you are entitled to by
simply being a person. They are:
- Universal: the same for everyone
- Indivisible: equally important
- Inalienable: all humans have them and they cannot be taken away
The UNCRC was ratified by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and on the 16th December 1991, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland formally agreed to make sure that every child in the UK has all the rights as listed in the convention. The Welsh Assembly Government has shown its commitment to the Convention by adopting it as the basis for policy making for children and young people in Wales in 2004.
Altogether there are 54 articles in the Convention. Articles 43-45 are about how adults and governments should work together to make sure all children are entitled to their rights. Articles 1-42 which set out how children should be treated.
Every 4-5 years the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child examines progress made by the UK State Party towards implementing the 54 Articles of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child and thereby protecting children and young people’s human rights.
The last review of progress by the UK State Party (i.e. the Governments of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and overseas territories) took place in 2008 and information was presented by the UK State Party and other organisations who have an interest in Children’s Rights in 2007.
In response to this an Action Plan for Wales has been developed with key partners. The Welsh Assembly are also working with the rest of the UK State Party on joint areas of priority including addressing low levels of know and awareness of the UNCRC across Wales. Link to Plan page?
The Welsh Assembly Government believe that working in partnership is the most effective approach to realising the desired outcome of securing the wellbeing of every child and young person in Wales and across the UK and supporting them to realise their rights and achieve their full potential.
- Universal: the same for everyone
- Indivisible: equally important
- Inalienable: all humans have them and they cannot be taken away
The UNCRC was ratified by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and on the 16th December 1991, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland formally agreed to make sure that every child in the UK has all the rights as listed in the convention. The Welsh Assembly Government has shown its commitment to the Convention by adopting it as the basis for policy making for children and young people in Wales in 2004.
Altogether there are 54 articles in the Convention. Articles 43-45 are about how adults and governments should work together to make sure all children are entitled to their rights. Articles 1-42 which set out how children should be treated.
Every 4-5 years the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child examines progress made by the UK State Party towards implementing the 54 Articles of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child and thereby protecting children and young people’s human rights.
The last review of progress by the UK State Party (i.e. the Governments of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and overseas territories) took place in 2008 and information was presented by the UK State Party and other organisations who have an interest in Children’s Rights in 2007.
In response to this an Action Plan for Wales has been developed with key partners. The Welsh Assembly are also working with the rest of the UK State Party on joint areas of priority including addressing low levels of know and awareness of the UNCRC across Wales. Link to Plan page?
The Welsh Assembly Government believe that working in partnership is the most effective approach to realising the desired outcome of securing the wellbeing of every child and young person in Wales and across the UK and supporting them to realise their rights and achieve their full potential.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UNCRC by the UN General Assembly.
The Welsh Assembly Government will be holding a small scale celebratory event to mark the occasion. The event will see the launch of the UNCRC Action Plan for Wales, a UNCRC UNCRC Awareness Raising Toolkit and a national competition.
The Welsh Assembly Government will be holding a small scale celebratory event to mark the occasion. The event will see the launch of the UNCRC Action Plan for Wales, a UNCRC UNCRC Awareness Raising Toolkit and a national competition.
Article 42 of the convention states that Government should make the convention known to all parents and children. In line with this article, a key objective of the Welsh Assembly Government is to increase awareness of the UNCRC.
A recent mapping exercise of existing resources specifically aimed at promoting and raising awareness of the UNCRC has identified a number of gaps in provision. The toolkit that has been developed is a general resource and further specific resources will be
developed in due course.
A recent mapping exercise of existing resources specifically aimed at promoting and raising awareness of the UNCRC has identified a number of gaps in provision. The toolkit that has been developed is a general resource and further specific resources will be
developed in due course.
We know that awareness of the UNCRC in Wales is low and so we have started to look at ways in which we can make more people aware of it. As a start to this we have pulled together a number of useful resources that can help you to raise awareness of the UNCRC and this includes this toolkit which can help everyone to or learn more about
The Convention.
The Convention.
We have been working with a number of organisations and groups over the past few months piloting the Awareness Raising Toolkit. See an example of the toolkit being used in practice.
Win a mini-camcorder or a laptop computer
To mark the 20th anniversary of UNCRC we’re challenging children and young people in Wales to come up with their own ideas on how to achieve the aims of this historic agreement over the next 20 years.
This exciting competition has separate categories for primary school pupils and for teenagers and young adults. Click below for more details:
Primary
11- 25 year olds
To mark the 20th anniversary of UNCRC we’re challenging children and young people in Wales to come up with their own ideas on how to achieve the aims of this historic agreement over the next 20 years.
This exciting competition has separate categories for primary school pupils and for teenagers and young adults. Click below for more details:
Primary
11- 25 year olds
We are committed to working in partnership to make children and young people’s rights a reality in Wales. Here are links to some of the partners we work most closely with.
We would welcome any
suggestions you have about how
we could make the Awareness Raising Toolkit even better. We are currently looking at developing a whole range of resources in this area so watch this space!
We will soon have a blog on the website where you can view all feedback. A feedback form is available here.
suggestions you have about how
we could make the Awareness Raising Toolkit even better. We are currently looking at developing a whole range of resources in this area so watch this space!
We will soon have a blog on the website where you can view all feedback. A feedback form is available here.