An introduction to
children’s rights
Group activity
agenda
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What are human rights?
Why children’s rights?
The UNCRC
Children’s rights in Wales
Children’s rights for Elected Members
Reflection and evaluation
Core Principles of Human Rights
• Universal
• Inalienable
• Indivisible
• Accountable
FREDA principles
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Fairness and freedom
Respect
Equality
Dignity
Autonomy
Why do children need separate rights?
• Maturity
• Voiceless and invisible
• Possessions
Wants, Needs and Rights
• Want - a desire for something
• Need - the state of requiring help, or of
lacking basic necessities such as food
• Right - a moral or legal entitlement to have or
do something
The 4 Components of a Right
1. The Rights Holder (a human being )
2. The Object (the thing they have a right to)
3. The Obligated (people or institutions “duty bearers”)
4. The Justification (greater human dignity,
societal development, a peaceful society)
Body of Rights
The UNCRC
• 54 articles
• 41 substantive articles
• 3 domains
4 underpinning rights
Article 2 - No discrimination
Article 3 - Best interests of the child
Article 6 - Right to life
Article 12 - Right to be heard
National Children and Young
People’s Participation Standards
1. Information- which is easy for children and
young people to understand
2. It’s Your Choice – enough information and time
to make an informed choice
3. No Discrimination - every young person has
the same chance to participate.
4. Respect- Your opinion will be taken seriously
5.You get something out of it- You will enjoy the
experience
6. Feedback- You will find out what difference your
opinion has made
7. Improving how we work- Adults will ask you
how they can improve how they work for the
future
Implementing the right to education
- an example
Government
Has an obligation to find & allocate resources,
define policy, achieve progress against targets
Education
institutions
Have an obligation to train teachers, organise
resources, create a child friendly environment
Teachers
Have an obligation to teach well, to encourage
parents, to support all children
Parents
Should support their children’s learning
Children and Should respect other children in order to support
young people their peers to exercise their rights
The reporting process
• Every 5 years
• Reports to the UN:
– UK Government (inc section by WAG)
– NGO report
– Young peoples report
– Children’s Commisioners’ report (4 nations)
• Concluding observations
• WAG action plan
• Monitoring group
Coffee break
UN Concluding Observations 2008 most
relevant to elected members 1
WAG/UK government must
1. Make sure that the UNCRC is put into practice in a well-organised way
across the whole country. This includes making sure it happens in local
areas, because councils have many powers in relation to children
2. Make detailed plans of action to put children’s rights into practice in all
parts of the UK
3. Make sure there is enough money to put these plans into practice
4. Children’s rights plans must pay special attention to the most vulnerable
children
5. Focus especially on ending child poverty and reducing inequality for
children when setting budgets
6. Carry out children’s rights impact assessments
7. Make sure that the UNCRC is known of and understood by adults and
children, including making it a compulsory part of the national curriculum
8. Provide training on the UNCRC for all adults working with children,
including teachers, social workers and childcare workers
9. Do more to raise awareness about and prevent discrimination against
children
UN Concluding Observations 2008 most
relevant to elected members 2
WAG/UK government must
10. Do everything it can to make sure that the best interests of the child are
part of every law or policy that affects children
11. Make sure respect for the child’s views is promoted, put into practice and
becomes part of the law
12. Introduce stronger rules to protect information about children
13. Provide education and training on how to positively bring up children for
parents
14. Offer more help to parents and guardians to help them raise their
children
15. Set up ways to check how many cases of abuse and bad treatment take
place in the family, schools, institutions and all types of care
16. Make sure adults working with children know about their duty to report
and act on suspected cases of domestic violence affecting children
17. Reintroduce the law that puts a legal duty on local councils to provide
safe sites for travellers
Children’s Rights legislation &
policy in Wales
• 2004 Children Act – WAG adopted UNCRC as basis for all policy for
children
• Seven core aims – based on UNCRC
• National Action Plan – Getting it Right 2009 - addressing 16 priorities
for Wales
• Children and Families (Wales) Measure - passed in 2010
• Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure - Ministers
will have to pay due regard to the UNCRC in all decisions they take
Articles most relevant to elected members
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Article 1 – applies to everyone aged 0-17
Article 3 – all organisations should work in the best interests of children
Article 13 – right to get and share information
Article 14 – right to think and believe what you want and practice your
religion
Article 15 – right to meet with other children and young people
Article 16 – right to privacy
Article 19 – government should ensure children are properly cared for
Article 23 – disabled children should receive special care and support
Article 25 – looked after children should have their situation reviewed
regularly
Article 27 – right to a standard of living good enough to meet your
physical and mental needs
Article 30 – right to learn and use the language and customs of your family
Article 31 – right to play
Think of a child …
Putting learning
into practice
Any final questions?