UK Children’s Commissioners’ Midterm Report

21 November 2011

To mark the International Day of the Child 2011, the four Children's Commissioners from the United Kingdom have published a midterm report on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) for the UK Government and devolved administrations.

The report and the associated evidence examine progress made in five areas - participation, children with disabilities, child poverty, children seeking asylum and juvenile justice - against the UNCRC, an internationally binding minimum standard for all children and young people that was ratified by the UK Government twenty years ago.

It is 20 years since the UK Government ratified the UNCRC. An important part of ensuring accountability to these standards is the Convention's reporting cycle, which requires the UK Government, as the State Party, to report on its progress to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years.

The last UK reporting process to the Committee concluded in 2008 and, following the publication of our hard-hitting evidence report to the UN Committee, we made a collective commitment to press continually for the full realisation of children's rights in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Between now and the start of the next reporting cycle in January 2014, each Children's Commissioner will continue to establish the facts, analyse the data and garner the lived experiences of children and young people in their jurisdiction to help make sure the UK State Party takes seriously its obligation.

Alongside the Children's Commissioners' midterm report and evidence document, resources have been created for each jurisdiction to help children and young people understand the United Nations reporting process and children's rights.