• Latest news
  • RSS feeds
• Find recent news
• Ofsted News
• Media Centre

Press release: 20-year milestone for children's rights international law

Associated resources

To mark the 20th anniversary of the UK’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) the Children’s Rights Director for England has today announced that a special guide to the UNCRC for children in care will be published shortly on the Rights4me website.

The guide will explain how 20 years ago today the UK Government ratified the Convention, with all-party support, thereby making a solemn commitment to its implementation. It will say what, according to the Convention, looked after children in England should be entitled to when it comes to the important things like a change of placement, contact with their family, getting a good education and listening to their views on decisions that are likely to affect them. This will complement a major report published last month setting out children’s own views and giving them clear information about their rights.

Roger Morgan, Children’s Rights Director said:

'As the Children’s Rights Director I am very pleased to be involved in the marking of this special day which serves as a great milestone highlighting the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We owe to our children the very best that we can give them, and supporting the Convention is a very good start in achieving this.

I am actively involved as UK representative for the World Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, awarded by the Queen of Sweden each year, and for which we have established a young person in care in the UK as the UK member of the International Children’s Jury.'

This momentous day in the children’s rights calendar is also being marked by many other organisations, in particular by the Children’s Commissioner for England and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, an umbrella body for groups and organisations committed to the implementation of the Convention. They are launching their campaign, ‘The Right Year for the Child’, by delivering a set of children’s traced footprints to 10 Downing Street. The campaign is intended to heighten the profile and awareness of children’s rights in this country.

As the Children’s Rights Director, Roger Morgan researches and reports on children’s rights issues, views and concerns, for children in care or living away from home, in order to advise the Government and Ofsted. The next report due for publication is his Annual Children’s Monitor on the state of children’s social care in England.

The Office of the Children’s Rights Director also (i) carries out some individual children’s rights casework for children in care or living away from home; (ii) produces many other children’s guides to help explain major national reviews, public consultations that they might want to take part in, what the law says and the standards that services working with children should be following; and (iii) helps bring children together with key policy makers and government.

Notes to Editors

1. Children’s care monitor 2010 report can be found on the Children’s Rights Director’s website www.rights4me.org and the Ofsted website.

The report gives the views of 1,155 children and young people who completed the monitoring survey online in 2010, plus 17 disabled children and young people who answered some of the questions using Widget symbol language.

The 1,155 children surveyed were receiving services from 111 different social care services across England. They include 48 local authorities, 15 independent fostering agencies, 11 independent children’s homes, eight boarding schools, 12 residential special schools and 17 residential further education colleges.

794 children and young people who completed the 2010 monitor survey were from care.

2. The Children’s Rights Director for England has independent statutory functions to ascertain and report the views of children living away from home or in care, to advise on children’s rights and welfare, and to raise matters he considers significant to the rights or welfare of the children in his remit. Government has recently consulted on bringing these functions together with those currently carried out by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, with the intention of strengthening rights for children in this country.

3. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

4. Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office via Ofsted's enquiry line 0300 123 1231 between 8.30am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.
5. The Children’s Rights Director is hosted by Ofsted, and this press release is issued by the Children’s Rights Director, not Ofsted.

Associated resources

• Children's care monitor 2010

Share this

Google Plus One