Policy and law reform
If you require further information, please contact us.
- Please see below for a recent progress report on the General Measures of Implementation in Wales.
These below speeches were given at the recent "What's next in Children's rights?" seminar on July 5th 2011. Rhian Croke is the Child Rights Policy Officer for Save the Children and sits on the UNCRC monitoring group in Wales which is hosted by Save the Children. Lothar Krappman is an ex member of the UN committee on the rights of the child.
Rhian Croke's speech Lothar Krappman's speech
-
The Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group working with partners in 2010 successfully lobbied for a legal duty to be imposed on Welsh Ministers to have due regard to the rights and obligations in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and its Optional Protocols in exercising any of their functions. To view the legislative timetable and the evidence submitted to the Legislation Committee during the scrutiny process click here
On January 18th 2011 this landmark piece of legislation, the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure was passed by the National Assembly for Wales with cross-party unanimous support. To access the measure click here
The legislation will come in two stages: first, from May 1st 2012, applying to the making of new law or policy and review of existing policies and then from May 1st 2014 will apply to all of the Welsh Minister’s functions. It will also bring in the duty to promote knowledge and understanding of the UNCRC.
- The Welsh Government is currently consulting on specific duties for Wales under the public sector duty of the Equality Act 2010. Currently it is proposed that schools will be exempt from these specific duties in Wales and the UNCRC Monitoring Group will be responding to this consultation and arguing for the inclusion of schools in the duties and against the further discrimination of children living in Wales. Take look at the consultation here. Read more about the specific duties in Wales and the Equality and Human Rights Commission position here.
- Access the UNCRC Monitoring Group's last report on progress on law and policy in Wales to the Committee on the Rights of the Child here.