Protecting Children’s Rights Worldwide: Alternative Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Summary

The UK, as a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has committed itself to comply with Article 4 of the Convention, imposing an obligation on state parties to take all appropriate measures for the global implementation of the rights recognised in the CRC, including within the framework of international cooperation. The Committee on The Rights of the Child (hereafter “the CRC Committee”) has stated that the rights contained within the Convention should be fully integrated within a State’s policy for international development assistance, and that development strategies should be rights-based, and include a substantial focus on children.

The UK government should be commended for having surpassed the international target of 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to be allocated to development assistance, and for passing a law recognising such target as a legal requirement. Nevertheless, the Bond Child Rights Group (hereafter “the Bond Group”) remains concerned that children’s rights are still not sufficiently mainstreamed within the UK’s development policies. While child rights are included in a number of wider development programmes, the lack of a coherent approach to children’s rights within the UK’s development strategies has significant implications for effectiveness in responding to issues affecting children.

The Bond Group calls for the establishment of a holistic child rights framework to ensure full realisation of the CRC in the UK’s foreign policy in its totality (diplomacy, aid, trade, defence, environment and climate change). Such a framework would fall within the UK’s obligations to undertake all appropriate measures for the implementation of the Convention, and would mainstream children’s rights across the UK’s development policies. The adoption of such a framework, which would guide the implementation of a child rights based approach and targeted interventions, would provide the UK government with an essential instrument to comply with its obligations under Article 4 of the Convention, read in conjunction with the provisions recognising children’s economic, social and cultural rights. Twenty-five years on from the signing of the CRC, it is now time for the UK to work towards a more strategic approach to protecting children’s rights.