UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that recognises and protects the human rights of children.  It was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument.  The UNCRC was signed by the UK in 1990, ratified in late 1991 and came into force on 15th January 1992.  The convention requires all state parties to report to the UN Commitee on the Rights of the Child their progress against the convention.

The UK's first report was submitted to the UN Committee in 1994, and was followed by the Second Report submitted in 1999 and updated in 2002.  The latest UK report was sent to the Committee in July 2007.  We have also produced a Northern Ireland specific report, in line with the approach  by Wales and Scotland.

In accordance with the recommendation of the UN Committee, we ran a series of consultations, both with the NGO sector and with children and young people during February 2007 including children and young people considered 'hard-to-reach'.  These included meetings with young people with a disability, who have left care, have special needs, are gay, lesbian or bi-sexual, have been in conflict with the law or in alternative education provsion.  Consultations were conducted across Northern Ireland.  A report on the consultations carried out can be viewed below.  A young people's version of the report has also been produced and can be viewed below.