Convention The Uk Government example essay topic

'The UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child' was ratified by the UK on 16 December 1991. In doing this, the Government agreed to make all laws, policy and practice compatible with the convention. The convention gives all children and young people under the age of 18 set rights, including the "right to express and have their views taken into account on all matters that affect them; the right to play, rest and leisure and the right to be free from all forms of violence" (web accessed 10/11/03). By adopting the Convention the UK government agreed to abide by its aims in protecting children and promoting their rights to participate in decisions that affect them. Despite this being over 10 years ago, repeated research has shown that children and young people are generally unaware that the Convention exists and they have these basic human rights. The main argument when discussing the UK Government's response to the convention is implementation, which is a problem affecting almost every policy introduced in the UK, but is particularly prominent in this case.

For example, under the new Immigration and Asylum Act (passed in 1999) it looks likely that asylum-seeking children and their families will receive less financial support than UK national children. This is a direct contradiction of the UN convention, which suggests that no child should receive different treatment from any other child, therefore should never have been passed. Yet, at the same time, Health Minister, John Hutton, launched the Government's second report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This referred to "the encouraging progress we as a nation are making in implementing the convention's wide-ranging provisions" (web accessed 10/11/03). "By contrast, the UK Agenda for children is extremely thorough in providing info on the extent to which the UK Gov. had failed to implement children's rights in a wide variety of ways... ".

(Fortin, 2002: 46) in particular "drawing attention to the government's poor record in fulfilling its obligations regarding children's rights to an adequate standard of living and optimum health, education, housing and social security" (Fortin, 2002: 46). It went on to criticize the UK Government by suggesting it was just 'going through the motions', as it had made no effort to central ise children's rights, nor to make anyone responsible for insuring the convention is considered and implemented. Another major issue highlighted was the lack of publicity of the ratification of the convention. More than a decade after the UK ratified the convention and there was "still no legislative or other changes introduced to promote compliance" (Franklin, 2002: 97).

It seems that the Government felt that with the introduction of the 1989 Children Act, they were doing over and above what was expected of them by the convention. This being publically reinforced by the government minister in charge, Virginia Bottomley, on many occasions, saying "that "of course" English law went further than the Convention" (Franklin, 2002: 97). The problem with this is that the Act does not directly relate to the convention, with it only addressing children's upbringing and welfare, with no mention of the numerous other articles within the convention Despite this we have recently seen a more positive moves from the Government, with Margaret Hodge being appointed Minister for children on 13 April of this year, talk of a children's commissioner for England (as they have in Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland) being introduced, as well as the serious discussion of the convention being integrated into UK law, as was reported in the Guardian on 20 October 2003: "An influential group of MPs and peers will this week call on the government to incorporate the UN convention on the rights of the child into British law. Such a move would allow children to challenge in the courts any legislation or policy as being against their best interests". (web accessed 10/11/03) Moreover, following the Ratification of the UN Convention on the rights of the child, until recently the UK Government has made very little effort in implementing the convention, it seemed to assume that the 1989 Children Act would suffice as their 'effort' to ensuring children's rights, even though the Act had no direct relation to the convention. More recently we have seen a much more positive move for children's rights in the UK, with the employment of a children's minister and the talk of incorporating the convention into the British Law system. Although this is a step forward, it almost seems as if it is too late, particularly for the children that have suffered due to the Governments lack of implementation.

I feel the Government should have done more, a lot sooner.