Children’s Law Centre is urging groups to contribute to stakeholder report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) is calling on all stakeholders to contribute to a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of the “List of Issues Prior to Reporting” expected to be issued to the UK Government in February 2021.

With the aim of the stakeholder report to help focus the Committee on the key issues of concern to children in Northern Ireland, CLC have determined it as critical.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child last examined the UK Government and the NI Executive on their compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) four years ago and the next train of examination is expected to commence in February 2021 with the ‘List of Issues Prior to Reporting’ (LOIPR). The Government’s responses to this List will form the basis of its State Party Report to the Committee in 2022.

Stakeholders can submit a short report to the Committee identifying the key issues which they believe should be priority when issuing the LOIPR. Highlighting that many of the initial recommendations have not been actioned, in addition to possible new breaches of the UNCRC including measures introduced in response to COVID 19, the Children’s Law Centre is keen to ensure that the UN Committee receives inclusive information that reflects a comprehensive overview of key areas of concern with regards to the implementation of the UNCRC in Northern Ireland.

Given the inability to consult further, due to restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic, but having previously worked alongside many voluntary and community sector organisations in compiling previous reports, CLC are hoping that the template strategy they have put in place will help organisations provide the required information within the constricted timeline.  CLC are requesting that those who wish to respond align their information to the template highlighted below and identify what each organisation considers to be key issues.

For each issue include:          

  • the issue
  • context
  • evidence and sources (including author, date of publication, title, publisher)
  • any questions you think the Committee should ask the NI Executive/ UK Government

The deadline for Stakeholders submitting their reports to inform the LOIPR is 1st November 2020 therefore all information must be submitted to CLC prior to 21st September, with a draft report circulated to all contributors week commencing 5th October.

With limited time to prepare the report, the Children’s Law Centre are urging all those wishing to contribute or looking for further information to contact Claire Kemp at [email protected] as soon as possible. 

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