What is UNCRC reporting?
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is the body set up by the UN to monitor the progress that States make in keeping their human rights promises under the UNCRC. It’s made up of 18 independent experts on children’s rights from different countries.
UNCRC reporting takes place when the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child examines the whole UK on how well it’s meeting its promises under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The Committee last examined the UK’s progress on the UNCRC in June 2023.
Our office is a key part of this process as we are able to report directly to the Committee to inform their assessment. In November 2022, we submitted our joint report to the with the Children’s Commissioners from Wales and Northern Ireland on the improvements the UK needs to make.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child published a review on the state of children’s rights in the UK in June 2023. It made close to 200 recommendations – known as concluding observations – for the Scottish Government and its UK counterparts to action.
Our 2022 report to the UN
Children’s Commissioners inform UN on governments’ rights record
In our “report card” to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – the three Commissioners highlighted areas of children’s rights that they were worried about – including poverty, mental health, and proposed changes to the Human Rights Act by the UK Government.
The UK Government has a duty to tell the Committee what they are doing to make children’s rights a reality. As part of that reporting process, the Commissioners tell the UN what they think governments are doing well, and what needs to be done better.
Children and young people’s views must be central to decisions affecting them, and the Commissioners also submitted a report of children’s voices and experiences.
Children and young people have shared many concerns about their rights, with poverty and mental health being a shared concern from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
A Young Adviser from Scotland said:
“If you grow up in a deprived area and don’t have access to money, you won’t be able to afford fares for transport or access job opportunities or opportunities as a whole.”
The Commissioner at the time, Bruce Adamson, said:
“Scotland is still failing on many of the issues raised when we last reported six years ago, and for many children, life in that time has got much worse. Alongside the failures on poverty and mental health, we still imprison children, and our age of criminal responsibility is just 12; two years below the international minimum standard. What does this say about how we value children? The Scottish Government needs to take urgent action to protect, respect and fulfill children’s rights.”
Download our 2022 report
Report of the Children’s Commissioners of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
Childrens Voices
Children and young people’s views must be central to decisions affecting them, and the Commissioners also submitted a report of children’s voices and experiences from across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Symbols Version
UNCRC Concluding Observations 2023
The Committee’s concluding observations mark the last stage in the examination of how the UK is meeting its promises under the UNCRC. Our report told the UN where the Scottish Government is doing well, and what it needs to improve for children. Since the last concluding observations in 2016, some progress has been made in areas such as banning physical punishment of children and raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility. However, there are outstanding issues in a broad range of children’s rights which the Committee commented on.
Incorporation of children’s rights
The Committee called on the Scottish Government to “expeditiously bring forward the amendments necessary to enact the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill”, and to involve children and young people in the development of action plans to implement the Convention. The Convention was eventually incorporated into Scots law on the 16th of July 2024.
Mental health
The Committee urged government to take action on poverty and mental health services provision, strengthening and resourcing community-based therapeutic mental health services and programmes for children of all ages.
Poverty and food insecurity
It “noted with deep concern the number of children living in poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness” and pushed for benefits to be increased and the two-child benefits cap to be abolished.
Illegal Migration Bill
The Committee was heavily critical of the UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill, saying that it should be urgently amended as current draft includes provisions that violates children’s rights under the Convention and the 1951 Refugee Convention, noting UK Government’s obligations “to ensure children’s right to nationality, to seek asylum and to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration, as well as to prevent their prolonged detention and removal.”
Scotland’s children and young people help UN grill governments on children’s rights
Two Young Advisors have been busy in Geneva – joining Members of the Children’s Parliament and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament to work with the UN Committee on the
Governments must step up to protect children’s rights, warns United Nations
Young people, the Acting Children’s Commissioner, and Together respond to the United Nations’ concluding observations on children’s rights.
How and when does the UK report to the UN?
The UK is unusual in being a UN Member State that contains four countries― Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UNCRC reporting looks at whether the UK Government is keeping its human rights promises, but also if our devolved governments are as well.
Because of this, the Children and Young People’s Commissioners of all four of the UK’s countries are involved in UNCRC reporting.
There are other parts of the UK that aren’t part of these four countries. For example, Jersey’s Children’s Commissioner reports to the UN separately.
Many other people and organisations are also involved in the reporting process, including members of civil society like Together Scotland.
Children and young people can report to the UN in any way they choose about the issues that affect them. For example, they might choose to report in a creative way like making a piece of art.
When do the UK’s Commissioners get involved in UN reporting?
December 2020: Choosing important issues
At the beginning of the reporting cycle, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child chooses 30 UK children’s rights issues to address.
Our first report of this cycle was released in December 2020 to help the Committee decide what these issues should be.
2022/2023: Responding to the UK Government
In January 2022, the UK Government submitted a report to the Committee on the progress it’s made in addressing the 30 issues, and the challenges faced in doing so.
It’s a report that covers what all the UK’s governments have done, including devolved administrations.
We then write a report which is in response to the UK Government’s report, which sets out where we agree with it and where we don’t.
In 2022 the Committee also learned more about children’s human rights issues in the UK by:
- asking questions to a wide range of people and organisations, and
- hearing evidence from these people and organisations.
The people and organisations they met to do this included:
- children and young people,
- the UK’s Children’s Commissioners,
- the UK Government, and
- members of Civil Society.
On 7 February 2023, the Commissioner was in Geneva to speak with the Committee about the issues we raised in our report. In particular, the Commissioner highlighted the importance of moving forward with the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law and telling the committee about the impact poverty and the cost of living are having on children in Scotland.
2023: Concluding Observations are released
Report of the Children’s Commissioners of the United Kingdom of Great Britain to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child: Examination of the Combined Sixth and Seventh Periodic Reports of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
December 2020. Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its reporting cycle on the UK, setting out 30 issues around children’s human rights upon which the UK and devolved governments need to take action.
“Are We There Yet?” Our Rights, Our Say
December 2020. The Children and Young People’s version of the UK Commissioners’ report to the UN.
CRC Report Annex: Children’s Rights in the UK in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
December 2020. This annex to the UK Commissioners’ report covers ways in which the human rights of children and young people in the UK have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it.
CRC Reporting: 30 Issues Infographic
December 2020. An infographic highlighting the 30 issues around children’s human rights highlighted by the UK Commissioners’ report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Report of the UK Children’s Commissioners on Fifth UK Periodic Report
The joint report of the UK’s four Children’s Commissioners on the UK’s fifth periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Young People’s Version: Report of the UK Children’s Commissioners on Fifth UK Periodic Report
Young people’s version of the UK Children’s Commissioners’ report on the UK’s report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
UK Fifth Periodic Report: Children’s Commissioners’ recommendations
Recommendations of the UK’s Children’s Commissioners on what should change for the UK to keep its human rights promises to children and young people.
UK Children’s Commissioners’ response to the replies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the List of Issues of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Further evidence from the UK’s Children’s Commissioners in response to UK replies to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s list of issues.