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Implementation of the UNCRC
The Committee said the Government must:
1 Do everything the Government can to carry out the recommendations the committee made in 1995 and 2002 that have not yet been put into practice, as well as these new recommendations.
2 Make sure all these new recommendations are fully put into practice, including sending them to the UK Parliament, Government departments and the Governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
3 Make the Government's report to the committee and these recommendations widely available to the public and to children.
4 Continue to change laws so they are in line with what the Convention on the Rights of the Child ( UNCRC) says.
5 Make sure the principles and rights of the UNCRC are part of the planned British Bill of Rights and the Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland. This could be by having a special section about children's rights.
A Bill of Rights is a list of the rights that are considered important and that people are entitled to.
6 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 local councils have many powers in relation to children.
7 Make sure that each country in the UK has a body to co-ordinate putting the UNCRC into practice, and that each body works well and has enough money, people and equipment to do its job.
8 Make sure that a high-profile team in the Government has overall responsibility for putting the UNCRC into practice across the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and for checking how well this is happening. Make detailed plans of action to put children's rights into practice in all parts of the UK.
10 Make sure there is enough money to put these plans of action into practice, and that there are ways to regularly check on how well these plans are working.
11 The plans of action for implementing children's rights must pay special attention to the most vulnerable children like children who are in care or are in Scotland seeking asylum.
An asylum seeker is someone who leaves their home country for their own safety, for political reasons or because of war, and travels to another country hoping that the Government there will protect them and allow them to stay.
12 Make sure all four Children's Commissioners in the UK are independent.
13 Make sure all four Children's Commissioners have the power to receive and investigate complaints from children (or on behalf of children) about their rights being ignored.
Scotland's Children's Commissioner's job is to make sure your views and rights are looked after. If you would like to find out more go to www.sccyp.org.uk
14 The Children's Commissioners should have enough people and money to carry out their work properly and be able to protect the rights of all children in the UK.
15 Make sure the Government uses all available money to put children's rights into practice.
16 Focus especially on ending child poverty and reducing inequality for children when deciding how the money to put children's rights into practice should be spent.
17 Make regular checks on how much money is being spent by government on making sure that children's human rights are being respected and protected (this is called a children's rights impact assessment).
18 Make sure that the rights in the UNCRC are known and understood by adults and children, including by making sure the UNCRC is taught in schools.
19 Make sure the principles and values of the UNCRC are central to everything that happens in all schools.
20 There must be training on the UNCRC for all adults working with children, including the police, immigration workers, the media, teachers, health professionals, social workers and childcare workers.
21 Encourage the involvement of NGOs and children in promoting children's rights and putting them into practice. This includes involving them in planning new policies and projects.
An NGO is a non-governmental organisation- a charity or other group that is not part of government.
22 Involve NGOs and children in following up these concluding observations, and in preparing the next report for the UN Committee.
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