More than 70 organisations have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to strengthen children’s rights in law and ensure they are considered across government decision-making.
A joint letter, led by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), part of charity Just for Kids Law, urges Burnham’s government to make children’s rights central to its plans for a “more preventative state”.
The coalition, including UNICEF UK, the National Children’s Bureau, the Alliance for Youth Justice and Save the Children UK, is calling for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to be fully incorporated into UK law, arguing that this would improve outcomes for children and young people and ensure their rights are considered across government policy.
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As a first step, the organisations want ministers to accept a recommendation from the Covid Inquiry’s Module 2 report to put Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) on a statutory footing.
The coalition said mandatory CRIAs would ensure “a child rights lens is applied to decision-making across government at an early stage”, helping identify, avoid and mitigate policies that could harm children.
It added that statutory assessments would provide a mechanism for children’s views to be considered and improve children and young people’s participation in policymaking.
The Covid Inquiry found that children were too often overlooked during the pandemic and concluded that stronger mechanisms were needed to ensure their rights were considered during national emergencies and routine policymaking.
The coalition welcomed the commitment from Kier Starmer’s government to improving awareness and use of CRIAs, but said the voluntary approach had resulted in inconsistent practice across government.
It is also calling on ministers to include “a clear roadmap towards full incorporation of the UNCRC into UK law” in the government’s forthcoming 10-year plan for Britain.
The organisations said they want to engage with the Prime Minister and ministers on taking a rights-based approach to policymaking and ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.
