UN reporting

Background

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reviews UNCRC implementation by governments in the UK

Every 6-8 years the UK and devolved governments’ implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. NICCY, and the other UK Children’s Commissioners have a key role in informing the Committee as to the situation in Northern Ireland, through engaging directly and submitting written reports.

The current reporting cycle began in 2020 with the submission of ‘shadow’ reports advising the Committee on the issues on which it should ask the UK Government to report.  NICCY, along with the Children’s Commissioners in England, Scotland and Wales, produced a joint ‘List of Issues Prior to Reporting’ report. We also engaged with children and young people across the UK to produce a report of the views of children and young people.

The UN Committee then submitted its ‘List of Issues’ to the UK Government, who responded on 16 June 2022:

• UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s List of Issues
• State party report

Update Report (Nov 22) and reporting cycle

On 30 November 2022, the Children’s Commissioner in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales submitted an updated joint report in response to the Committee’s questions. This identifies emerging trends and key issues and provides recommendations to improve children’s lives. We also submitted an updated report on the views of children and young people across the UK.

• You can read the main report here
• You can read the children and young person’s report here
• You can read the symbols version of the report here

You can also read the press release from the report submission here

Video overview

You can find out more about some of the issues highlighted in the report by watching this video:

The UN Committee will review these reports, along with reports from NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions, and use it to examine how the government is keeping the promises it made when it signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The remaining stages of this reporting cycle are:

1. Presessional meetings (Feb 2023)

• The Committee meets with non-state advisers in advance of the meeting with the State Party, including Children’s Commissioners, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), NGOs and children and young people themselves.

2. Examination of the State Party (June 2023)

• The Committee meets with representatives from the UK and devolved governments and asks questions about the steps taken to implement the UNCRC across the UK.

3. Report from the Committee with Concluding Observations and Recommendations.

• Following the examination of the State Party, the Committee produces a report outlining its Concluding Observations and Recommendations. This report then provides a basis for NICCY’s advice to government for the subsequent years, before the reporting cycle begins again.

Previous work

You can see the previous work on UN reporting here.