Tim Loughton MP (East Worthing and Shoreham) has joined forces with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Children’s Commissioner for England and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England to call for swift action from the UK Government in response to the latest report from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The UK Government was recently examined on its compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) for the first time since 2008. In June 2016, the UN Committee made its final recommendations (Concluding Observations) and identified areas where improvements need to be made to respect children’s rights in this country.
Children’s rights are the basic things children need to thrive – the right to an adequate standard of living, access to education and healthcare, and to be cared for and protected whatever the changing economic climate. The rights contained in the Convention of the Rights of the Child should be considered in the development of any legislation or policy that affects children.
The UN Committee recommendations have highlighted a number of areas where improvements need to be made including child poverty, mental health, education, homelessness, youth justice and more.
Tim, who is Co-Chair of the APPG for Children, and other Parliamentarians from across the political divide, including Harriet Harman MP, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights Committee, have heard from young people who drafted their own report to the UN and met with UN Committee members in Geneva.
Jade and Mark, members of CRAE’s ‘See it, Say it, Change it’ project, said:
"We've both experienced not having our rights met and feel we've been taken advantage of by a system that doesn't respect children's needs enough. We believe the Government needs to take action now that we have the Concluding Observations.
Tim said:
“We need to listen to young people, but it shouldn't feel special for them, it should feel normal. Young people can offer a different perspective and there is no one better placed to say how ‘young people’ feel about something than young people themselves."
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Children’s Commissioner for England, and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England will be pressing the Government to set out an urgent plan to tackle these injustices against children.