Today is World Children’s Day, which marks the date the United Nations adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The transformative potential of the Convention
The CRC has the potential to have a truly transformative impact on the lives of all children, and particularly those who are the most vulnerable and underserved. This is because, taking 10 years to develop, it was drafted specifically with children in mind. It covers all aspects of their lives: from the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to play, to protection from all forms of violence. It also recognises that particularly vulnerable groups such as refugee children, those in contact with the criminal justice system and survivors of abuse and neglect have additional rights. Crucially, it also gives a specific right to children to have their views heard and taken seriously. It stresses the importance of considering a child’s best interests and ensures they are treated with dignity and respect, recognising their value in the present rather than viewing them only as future adults.
The UK ratified this ground-breaking treaty over 30 years ago, and while some important progress has been made, there is still much more to do - clearly demonstrated by the 180 recommendations the UK received following its last examination by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN Committee) - the treaty monitoring body for the CRC - in 2023.
What the pandemic exposed: Child rights consistently overlooked
Children’s rights are all too often an afterthought in government decision-making, which can have devastating consequences, most starkly demonstrated by the decisions made by the last Government during the Covid 19 pandemic.
CRAE is a core participant for module 8 of the Covid Inquiry, which is focussing on children and young people, and at the recent public hearings for this module we heard strong and compelling evidence on the harm caused to children when statutory children’s rights duties are not in place, meaning that children’s rights and needs can too easily be set aside.
We heard, for example, how there was no proper planning ahead of school closures, despite the known harm that this would cause to children in a whole range of ways from lost education to poor mental health; how children in prison - some of the most vulnerable children in our society - were held in cells for 23 hours a day; and how fundamental legal protections for children in contact with the children’s social care system were diluted without even adequate consultation with the Children’s Commissioner for England.
A snapshot of 2025: What the Eurochild England country profile reveals
The pandemic gave us the clearest examples of what happens when children’s rights aren’t adequately considered. But policymaking, which fails to fully take children into account is, unfortunately, not confined only to crisis situations. In a new report published today by Eurochild, for which CRAE prepared the England Country Profile, there are numerous examples of how we continue to fail children.
Drawing on evidence from organisations across the sector, the profile paints a sobering picture of the pressures children face: rising child poverty, weakened early help, record numbers of children in care, long waits for mental health support, discriminatory and harmful practices in schools and policing, and serious rights gaps for migrant and asylum-seeking children. It also highlights the concerning authorisation of PAVA spray in youth custody.
Where next: Embedding children’s rights in law and policymaking
To ensure that children are placed at the heart of Government, we would like to see the CRC fully and directly incorporated into UK law. This would transform the way in which children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled, and enable children to enforce their rights. We have been calling for this for many years and will continue to do so in line with the UN Committee’s recommendation to the UK.
An important, but straightforward, first step towards this ultimate goal would be to ensure that child rights impact assessments (CRIAs) are a statutory requirement when the government is making a policy or budgetary decision that impacts on children. This was also recommended by the UN Committee who urged for “mandatory child-rights impact assessment procedures for legislation and policies relevant to children” in parts of the UK where these measures are not yet in place.
This is why we are very pleased to be working on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to make CRIAs mandatory, with Baroness Lister of Burtersett, in partnership with NSPCC and Unicef UK. This is backed by a broad and diverse coalition of 121 organisations, from large national charities and professional bodies to grassroots community organisations.
The Bill currently lacks explicit measures to ensure that children’s rights are systematically considered in law and policymaking. A key gap in any agenda that seeks to improve children’s lives.
A CRIA is not a burden or bureaucratic exercise but a helpful policy-making tool. It ensures that a child rights lens is applied to decision-making at an early stage and enables a systematic consideration of how children may be affected – whether positively or negatively – so that any adverse impacts can be identified, avoided or mitigated.
Critically, they also provide a useful mechanism to ensure that children’s voices are heard on issues that affect them and would support the Government’s laudable ambitions to support young people to have a say in decision-making.
Any government which is truly committed to the CRC will be keen to create a legacy that furthers child rights implementation and also puts in place guardrails against those who may want to renege on our international children’s rights obligations in the future.
On World Children’s Day, we are calling on the UK Government to place CRIAs on a statutory footing – a small and simple step, which would make a huge difference to children’s lives. Join us in supporting this call.
To find out more or join the campaign for statutory children’s rights protections please email info@crae.org.uk. You can also support our work by becoming a member of CRAE.