The Children’s Law Centre has expressed grave concern at the latest PSNI use of force statistics for the period April 2023 to March 2024. The statistics highlight how spit hoods have been used on children, including at least once on a child under the age of 13.

There has also been a sharp increase in the use of plastic bullets, with child rights experts highlighting the severe risk they pose to children and young people.

The Children’s Law Centre has pointed to the latest concluding observations and recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that call for measures to ‘explicitly prohibit, without exception, the use of harmful devices including spit hoods, plastic bullets, attenuating energy projectiles and other electrical discharge weapons against children.

Fergal McFerran, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Children’s Law Centre said: “These latest figures from the PSNI continue to leave us very concerned about significant rights breaches on children and young people who have been in contact with the police.

“The increased use of spit hoods on children is particularly worrying, especially as explicit guidance exists which sets out a presumption they should not be used on children at all.

“While there appears to be a lower number of individual children subject to force by the PSNI compared to last year, it is worrying that the figures seem to indicate that more children have been subject to multiple types of force.”

Mr McFerran continued: “It is also important to note what is missing from the statistics. They have not been fully disaggregated by the characteristics protected by Northern Ireland’s equality laws, such as community background and disability.

“The Children’s Law Centre has long-held concerns that uses of force disproportionately impacts children with additional needs, care experienced children and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“These latest statistics represent clear breaches of children’s rights and we will continue to raise our concerns with the NI Policing Board.”

Paddy Kelly, Director at the Children’s Law Centre said: “The sharp increase in the use of plastic bullets is shocking. The dangers posed to children by the use of plastic bullets has been clear for a very long time. Indeed, the tragic death of eight children due to plastic bullets is evidence enough.

“The Northern Ireland Policing Board should, as a matter of urgency, ensure the PSNI end the use of Plastic Bullets against children in compliance with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s repeated recommendations.”

Claire Kemp, Policy Officer at the Children’s Law Centre added: “The overuse of Stop and Search powers on children and young people also continues, with 2089 children stopped and searched in the last reporting year, including 56 children aged 12 or under. Of the 2089 children stopped, 74 were subsequently arrested – equating to just 3.7% of an outcome rate.”

The latest use of force statistics can be found at https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/statistics-police-use-force

In January 2023, the NI Policing Board published a Human Rights Review of the PSNI’s Use of Force following calls from the Children’s Law Centre and human rights organisations.

The most recent stop and search statistics can be found at https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/stop-and-search-statistics

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s concluding observations can be found at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2FGBR%2FCO%2F6-7&Lang=en (the recommendation on the use of spit hoods and plastic bullets is at 30(a) on page 9 of the report.

In our latest blog, Ihab Maajal, who travelled to Geneva as a youth advocate for Include Youth, writes about his experience of travelling to the United Nations and his pride in winning a Care Day Award. He also sends a positive message to young people everywhere about the power of young people’s activism.

Our blog posts are first published in our E-zine, ‘Child Rights Matters’. Don’t miss out on our blogs, training offers and updates on children’s rights by signing up today.

Ihab Maajal writes:

In the bustling city of Geneva, amidst the corridors of global diplomacy, a pivotal event unfolded – one that resonated deeply with the essence of empowerment and advocacy. Representing Northern Ireland at the United Nations, our team from Include Youth embarked on a transformative journey, championing the rights and aspirations of young people on a UK platform.

A wide range of feelings, including hope, determination, and a deep sense of responsibility, flowed through us as the curtains came down on this historic event. The UN provided a crucial forum for discussing the urgent problems facing today’s youth. This ranged from systemic obstacles impeding their advancement to socioeconomic constraints. Our constant faith in the strength of young voices kept us moving forward and inspired us to work towards real change and acknowledgment.

Our actions are based on a fundamental principle that is sometimes overlooked in the bustle of administrative procedures and policy talks – young people are living people who should be treated with respect and given opportunity. They are not just statistics or paperwork. Throughout all our interventions, this central message resonated, reflecting the feelings of innumerable young people whose voices were ignored for far too long.

Central to our discourse was the critical shortage of skilled professionals within the social work sector, an issue that strikes at the very foundation of youth support systems. Through meticulous research and first hand experiences, we highlighted the glaring gaps in expertise and resources, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive reforms. By shedding light on this overlooked aspect, we aimed to instigate meaningful dialogue and policy reforms that prioritise the holistic wellbeing of young people.

Getting the Care Day Award was more than just confirmation of our work – it was a symbol of the tenacity and will of all the young people whose hardships and victories we wanted to highlight. Amid the cheers and recognition, at that moment of victory, we experienced a deep sense of humility and thankfulness, realising that our combined efforts may spark change, one discussion at a time.

Let our voices be heard as a ray of hope in the halls of power and decision making, bearing witness to the unwavering spirit of young people’s activism and inclusion. Together, we will keep working towards our goals, speaking up for the under represented, and amplifying their voices until all young people’s aspirations come true and every challenge is conquered.

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In our first in a new series of blog posts, Youth@CLC member, Ruby Campbell, outlines some of the highlights from her time as a youth panel member, her determination as a change maker and her latest role as a member on UNICEF’s UK Youth Advisory Board.

Our blog posts will be published in our new E-zine, ‘Child Rights Matters’. Don’t miss out on our blogs, training offers and updates on children’s rights by signing up today.

Ruby Campbell writes:

I joined Youth@CLC in December 2022 and, looking back, it has completely transformed my life.

Youth@CLC is the youth advisory group at the Children’s Law Centre and it has provided me with an incredible opportunity to become educated on my rights and how to defend the rights of those around me. From actual information sessions to group meetings and events, Youth@CLC instantly made me feel included and simultaneously powerful.

I had a voice and could use it in front of politicians and other stakeholders to enact change in how young people are perceived and treated.

From meetings with the Department of Education, All-Party Group meetings and events with other youth organisations, opportunities to express myself and be listened to have been many.

The most exciting and meaningful experience was attending the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, in May 2023, during an examination of the UK Government and NI Executive’s obligations to protect the rights of children and young people.

A few weeks earlier, the NI Secretary of State introduced the 2023/24 budget, which resulted in massive cuts to services that support the most disadvantaged children and young people, such as youth spending on mental health support and education. I was horrified at this and the wider impact it would have on mental health, as well as children living in poverty.

Schemes like the Extended Schools Programme that provided crucial childcare and food to children was to be scrapped. Children who, in the midst of our crushing cost of living crisis, were coming to school hungry, would be impacted.

Youth@CLC gave me an opportunity to take this injustice to the highest level – the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Last year a panel of young people representing the UK were permitted to speak directly to the Committee on their experience. I was one of these young people and I told the Committee about the devastating impact the budget was bound to have, and the struggle of children and young people living in acute poverty across Northern Ireland. This remains the proudest moment of my life and an example of what can happen if youth voice is allowed a space in the conversation.

Among the Committee’s concluding observations was “withdraw the budget for Northern Ireland for the period 2023-2024.” It doesn’t get any more clear than that.

But my journey with Youth@CLC didn’t stop there. There were follow up events and meetings to make young people aware of the concluding observations, to get feedback and address directly the politicians that ultimately deliver Rights Here, Right Now for young people and children across Northern Ireland.

Youth@CLC allowed me to address politicians at Stormont, to address my peers and sparked in me a determination to see change.

At the next UK examination, a young person from Northern Ireland should not have to go to the Committee and tell them their rights are not just being threatened, but actively rolled back on.

Recently, after being made aware of the opportunity through the Children’s Law Centre, I became a member of UNICEF UK’s Youth Advisory Board, the first and only member to have come from Northern Ireland.

I am so very proud that today I can be a voice on the rights of children in Northern Ireland at a national level.

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Mr Bragi Guðbrandsson, Vice Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has highlighted the need for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive ‘without further delay’. Mr Guðbrandsson addressed the lack of local decision making when delivering the Children’s Law Centre Annual Lecture 2023 at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.

The lecture covered a number of key areas where children and young people’s rights are not being fulfilled. This included relationship and sexuality education (RSE), uses of force on children, restraint and seclusion, the treatment of refugee and asylum seeking children, academic selection, the age of criminal responsibility, child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child poverty.

Watch a live recording of the lecture

Download a copy of Mr Guðbrandsson’s lecture

Mr Guðbrandsson also repeatedly referenced the 2023/24 budget for Northern Ireland.

During the lecture, Mr Guðbrandsson said:

“The lack of progress in legislation being brought forward and delays implementing existing legislation and strategies to improve children’s lives in Northern Ireland require a solution to the political crisis in Northern Ireland without further delay.”

Mr Guðbrandsson referenced the committee’s recommendation on the 2023/24 budget for Northern Ireland a number of times during the lecture, saying:

“To my knowledge, no steps have been taken in Westminster to revise, yet alone withdraw the budget for Northern Ireland or to take any serious steps to mitigate any adverse impact on the most vulnerable children.”

He continued by reflecting on the current context facing children and young people:

“Alarming rates of child poverty, a profoundly difficult economic context, lack of financial support to meet the true cost of living, the complexity of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic still not fully known – all compounded by a budget which failed to give any hope of meaningful intervention.”

Mr Guðbrandsson concluded his lecture by repeating the need for the restoration of local decision making:

“While there has no doubt been progress in some areas, we have regrettably concluded that a vast number of children are being let down because of the continued failure to implement key measures and protections as laid out in the UNCRC.

“At the risk of some you may find I am using too strong words, I have argued that children and young people in NI are facing crisis in terms of lack of progress and even push-backs in crucial clusters of rights embodied in the UNCRC. I have repeatedly said in my speech that the prerequisite for overcoming the hindrances I believe that as a matter of urgency… Northern Ireland needs to regain its executive and legislative power”.

The Children’s Law Centre Annual Lecture 2023 took place on Tuesday 21 November, at The Inn of Court, Old Bar Library, Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast.

Watch a live recording of the lecture

Download a copy of Mr Guðbrandsson’s lecture

Key issues raised include:

• Lack of NI Executive
• Brexit
• Academic selection
• Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE)
• Lowering the voting age to 16
• Uses of force on children, including strip searches, spit and bite hoods and stop and searches
• Corporal punishment
• Child friendly and multiagency response to child sexual abuse
• Implementation of recommendations from the Gillen Review
• Lack of a childcare strategy
• Restraint and seclusion
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• Child poverty
• Refugee and asylum seeking children
• The minimum age of criminal responsibility
• The environment

The committee’s concluding observation on the 2023/24 budget reads: “Withdraw the budget for Northern Ireland for the period 2023–2024 and fully consider the equality and human rights implications for a new budget, taking all possible steps to mitigate any adverse impact on children’s rights before issuing a revised budget.”

Ahead of a visit to Belfast, Mr Bragi Guðbrandsson, Vice Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, has said children in Northern Ireland are facing crisis. Mr Guðbrandsson served as the UN Committee’s taskforce coordinator during the recent examination of the UK.

During his visit, Mr Guðbrandsson will meet children and young people, child rights experts and senior government officials, before delivering the Children’s Law Centre Annual Lecture 2023.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr Guðbrandsson said: “The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child completed extensive research over the past number of years to understand the challenges faced by children in Northern Ireland. While there has no doubt been progress in some areas, we have regrettably concluded that a vast number of children are being let down because of the continued failure to implement key measures and protections as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Decades of delay in implementing international best practice standards to protect and support children and young people has left them facing a huge number of challenges. In recent years, this has been made dramatically worse by the lack of local decision making and the recent Northern Ireland budget.

“Children and young people are facing crisis.”

Fergal McFerran, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Children’s Law Centre, said: “We are pleased to host Mr Guðbrandsson for World Children’s Day and to deliver our 2023 Annual Lecture. We are particularly pleased he will be meeting with the children and young people who presented evidence to the UN Committee in Geneva. As UN Committee’s taskforce coordinator for the UK’s recent examination he is well placed to advise on what needs to be done urgently in Northern Ireland to ensure we comply with our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“The message during Mr Guðbrandsson’s visit is crystal clear, our children are facing crisis. We need to see immediate action to start tackling the challenges and undoing the harm that is being caused. That work must start by addressing the immediate damage being done by budget cuts, then tackling the backlog of unaddressed issues over the past decade.”

Mr Guðbrandsson’s visit forms part of the Children’s Law Centre’s work to ensure decision makers in Northern Ireland implement the recommendations laid out by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. He will be engaged in a series of meetings with senior officials, key decision makers and duty bearers on Monday 20^th and Tuesday 21^st November. He will then deliver the Children’s Law Centre’s Annual Lecture 2023 at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.

Key decision makers and politicians were warned, at an event organised by the Children’s Law Centre, that a generation of children and young people will be harmed unless a reformed Executive and Assembly delivers key children’s rights recommendations.

You can watch the full event on YouTube.

Delegates heard from leading children’s rights experts, as well as children and young people themselves, during a briefing event on the recent UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s concluding observations and recommendations – a report previously described as “damning”.

The UN report raises concern around the treatment and protection of children and young people, as well as a long list of recommendations. These include a recommendation to withdraw the harmful 2023-24 budget for Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the event, Paddy Kelly, Director at the Children’s Law Centre said:

“There is a real and serious risk of long-term damage to our children and young people. The list of challenges facing them today is growing and becoming endless.

“There can be no doubt that decision makers are failing to look after their best interests. The proof is in the report from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and in the endless stream of cuts to children’s services.

“It is past time for change. A restored Assembly and Executive should be working to implement these recommendations but instead we are seeing decisions being made at Westminster that are compounding the problems.

“We need a return to local decision making, followed by urgent Executive action, before the long-term damage to our children and young people becomes even more severe.”

The event also heard from Dr Deena Haydon, an independent research and policy consultant, Chris Quinn, the new Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Fergal McFerran, Policy and Advocacy Manager at CLC, and Youth@CLC member Ruby Campbell. The event was attended by MLAs, leading departmental officials, the NI Children’s Commissioner, leading children’s charities and human rights organisations.

At the event, Ruby Campbell addressed delegates as a young rapporteur from the Rights Here, Right Now children and young people’s conference held in September.

To book, email claire@childrenslawcentre.org

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva recently told the Government that it needs to do more to make sure all children and young people enjoy their rights and achieve their full potential. The UK Government has to listen to the Committee’s advice because it signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991.

The Committee’s advice to the UK Government (including the NI Assembly) was influenced by the views and experiences of over 1000 children and young people in Northern Ireland. This included a delegation of children and young people from Northern Ireland who met with the Committee directly in Geneva.

Seven leading organisations have organised an event for children and young people to discuss and learn more about the recent concluding observations and recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The event will also give children and young people a chance to question a panel of people in key roles who are responsible for making decisions that impact on children and young people’s lives.

If you, or any of the children and young people you work with, are interested in attending the event, or you would like more information on the event details, please contact claire@childrenslawcentre.org

The Children’s Law Centre have also produced a children and young people’s summary document of the UN Committee’s concluding observations. Alongside this, a teaching resource has been produced to help children and young people better understand the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the concluding observations and the importance to children’s lives.

The event is being organised by:

• Children’s Law Centre
• Angel Eyes NI
• Include Youth
• NI Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY)
• NI Youth Forum
• Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC)
• NI Youth Assembly

The event is kindly being hosted by Ulster University.

02 June 2023

Concluding observations include wide range of recommendations including a call to scrap the NI budget and start again

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child produced concluding observations following examination of the UK government and devolved regions.

The Children’s Law Centre has said the scale of non-compliance with human rights obligations is alarming and called for immediate action to implement the recommendations.

Fergal McFerran, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Children’s Law Centre said:

“This is a damning set of recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It reflects the grim picture facing children and young people in this jurisdiction today. The gap in children’s rights has grown significantly over the last decade and children and young people are suffering every day because of it, whether that’s facing discrimination, failure to access services or simply not being allowed to have a say on decisions affecting them.

“We now need to see swift action to address the many failings identified throughout the examination process. There can be no excuses or delay. The scale of non-compliance with human rights obligations is alarming.

“Some major recommendations like raising the age of criminal responsibility, legislation to protect under 18s from age discrimination, and the introduction of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland have been outstanding for years and have now been included in successive concluding observations. Other recommendations like scrapping the Northern Ireland budget, ending PSNI strip-searches of children and ending the use of contingency accommodation for asylum seeking children are new and add to a growing list of children’s rights breaches.

“Children and young people are being seriously failed. The gap in children’s rights has dramatically increased over the last decade due to the lack of action. The situation has become even worse due to the attacks on human rights by the UK government, the collapse of local decision making, the impact of Brexit and the failure to properly resource services.”

Fergal McFerran continued:

“We carried out an extensive piece of work with sector experts and children and young people themselves to identify the issues in this jurisdiction. We’re reassured that the Committee has reflected that work in their recommendations. We thank them, and in particular their UK taskforce, for their diligent work.

“We would also like to thank everyone who took part in the research, including NGOs, Dr Deena Haydon, Jerome Finnegan from Save the Children and of course the children and young people who either told us their views or presented to Committee members themselves. Their work has had a direct impact on the outcome of the reporting process.

“We now owe it to them all to see major change.”

The Concluding Observations contains a wide range of recommendations. Other key recommendations cover issues such as the right to withdraw from religious worship in schools, relationship and sexuality education, restraint and seclusion, abortion, stop and search, plastic bullets, protecting children from paramilitaries, and ending the hostile environment for refugee and asylum seekers.

The Children’s Law Centre led the Northern Ireland NGO sector in reporting to the UN Committee, including the submission of three major reports and leading two delegations of experts and young people to present evidence to Committee members.

The Centre will now work to ensure the recommendations are implemented by those responsible.

The Concluding Observations can be found at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2FGBR%2FCO%2F6-7&Lang=en

This year, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will report on the work carried out by the UK government and Northern Ireland Executive to protect children’s rights. This is to make sure they are fulfilling their obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

The UK government signed up to the UNCRC in 1990 and it was ratified in 1991. By ratifying the UNCRC, the UK government have a duty under international law to make sure the rights of all children and young people in Northern Ireland are protected and to work towards making these rights reality in law.

The UK government must report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) every five years to explain how well they are protecting children’s rights in Northern Ireland. The Committee then makes concluding observations and recommendations for the UK government to implement.

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) leads the Northern Ireland NGO sector in submitting evidence to inform the examination process. The Centre’s youth panel, Youth@CLC, also submits a children and young people’s report.

In December, CLC submitted three major reports to the Committee. The reports were developed in consultation with a wide range of NGOs, as well as over 1,000 children. They give an authoritative position on the state of children’s rights in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the picture is extremely worrying.

A number of the major recommendations from previous concluding observations remain unimplemented. These include raising the age of criminal responsibility, removing the defence of reasonable punishment, (finally) enacting a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, and introducing age discrimination legislation to protect children. These are all issues raised in 2016 that have still not been addressed.

Adding to this, subsequent years have become even more perilous for children and young people. Since 2016, we’ve had attacks on human rights from the UK government, uncertainty around rights protected by the Good Friday Agreement, escalating pressures on public services, the impact of Covid policies on vulnerable children, and a growing failure to protect newcomer children.

In addition, issues that did not feature in 2016 are now major concerns including the rising number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children being held in unsuitable temporary accommodation. While concerns around the disproportionate numbers of children being stopped and searched remain, we now also have serious concerns around the strip searching of children and the use of ‘spit hoods’. Far from being protected and progressed, children’s rights have gone backwards.

When we look at the children and young people’s report submitted by our youth panel, Youth@CLC, we begin to understand why that is. One of the most damning statistics in their report is that only 15% of children and young people feel they are listened to by politicians. For 16 to 17 year olds, this figure drops to 9%. Decision makers simply aren’t listening and it’s little wonder children are being failed.

Listening to children and young people is the basic first step and it’s being missed. Once we listen, we quickly understand why fewer than half of the children who responded to our survey agreed they could quickly see a counsellor or specialist when they needed support for their mental health. In the words of one young person answering our survey: “From hearing friends talk about their experience with things like counsellors or CAMHS, it seems like it would make me feel worse or not work”.

The proportion able to quickly access mental health support was lower again for children on free school meals, children with a disability, and 16 to 17 year olds, all of whom are more likely to rely on the service. It’s clear, when it comes to mental health support, for example, we’re failing children. Or, as put more succinctly by one young person in a workshop: “CAMHS is shite, they put no time into helping you.”

The picture is similar across other areas. In schools, children tell us they’re being failed by not having standardised relationship and sexuality education (RSE). In care, we’re failing children by stigmatising them and failing to understand their particular needs. In the youth justice system, young people tell us the police don’t understand their mental health needs.

Disabled young people list a whole catalogue of ways they’re being failed within the school system and in the community, generally feeling less positive about their participation in society, their health and development and the opportunities they have available to them.

In February 2023, CLC led a delegation of children and young people, along with a number of other organisations, to meet with the Committee in Geneva to give evidence. Unfortunately, it was not an opportunity for them to show how children’s rights in Northern Ireland have progressed since 2016.

All three reports submitted to the Committee are available here, including a summary for children and young people of the Rights Here, Right Now report.

CLC would like to thank our youth panel, Youth@CLC, for helping us develop and submit the Rights Here, Right Now survey and report. We would like to thanks the 1,026 respondents to the survey, the 127 children and young people who took part in the workshops and the NGOs that contributed to the Stakeholder Report 2, and associated Stakeholder Report 2 Evidence.

Finally, we would like to thank Jerome Finnegan of Save the Children for his assistance in developing and analysing the survey and Dr Deena Haydon for her extensive work gathering, analysing and writing up the information presented in these reports.

Children’s Law Centre submits three substantial reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child demonstrating how rights and protections for children have regressed

NGO Stakeholder Report 2 endorsed by over 50 organisations and individuals

Rights Here, Right Now report informed by over one thousand children and young people, including workshops with 127 disadvantaged or vulnerable children

Three major reports, submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, demonstrate a regression in children’s rights. The reports, submitted by the Children’s Law Centre in consultation with a wide range of NGOs, as well as over one thousand children, highlight significant gaps in children’s rights and the impact this is having on children and young people in Northern Ireland.

Download the Rights Here, Rights Now Children and Young People’s Report

Download the Rights Here, Right Now Summary for Children and Young People

Download the Northern Ireland NGO Stakeholder Report 2

Download the Northern Ireland NGO Stakeholder Report 2 Evidence

The number and complexity of the issues being reported to the UN Committee have grown since the previous examination of the UK Government in 2016. Previous recommendations made by the UN Committee, such as raising the age of criminal responsibility and removing the defence of reasonable punishment remain unaddressed. However, the number and complexity of issues facing children and young people has dramatically increased over the last number of years.

Speaking ahead of submitting the reports, Fergal McFerran, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Children’s Law Centre, said:

“We’re very concerned about the current situation for children and young people. These reports have been informed by a wide range of expertise within the NGO sector in Northern Ireland. They also give a voice to over one thousand children and young people here. We are able to give a very good indication of where we are in relation to children’s rights and the issues facing children, but I’m afraid it’s very concerning reading.

“A number of the major recommendations from previous concluding observations remain unimplemented. These include raising the age of criminal responsibility, removing the defence of reasonable punishment, the failure to enact a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, and the introduction of age discrimination legislation to protect children. These are all issues raised in 2016 which have still not been addressed.

“However, the subsequent years have become even more perilous for children and young people. Since 2016 we’ve had attacks on human rights from the UK Government, uncertainty around rights protected by the Good Friday Agreement, escalating pressures on public services, the impact of Covid policies on vulnerable children, and a growing failure to protect newcomer children.

“In addition, issues that did not feature in 2016 are now major concerns. These include the rising number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as well as the growing numbers of newcomer children being held in unsuitable temporary accommodation. While concerns around the disproportionate numbers of children being stopped and searched remain, we now also have serious concerns around the strip searching of children and the use of ‘spit hoods’.”

Children and young people’s opinions

Speaking about some of the findings in the children and young people’s report, Fergal McFerran, continued:

“It’s little wonder that only 38% of young people surveyed by our youth panel said they could trust the police in their area. Only 15% of the young people surveyed said they thought politicians would listen to them if they gave their opinion. Children and young people are being let down and they are acutely aware of it.

“Our youth survey also highlighted the widening gap in children’s rights when it comes to more vulnerable groups. Disabled children and children on free school meals were much more likely to feel negatively about their experiences across a number of general topics, including being listened to, being able to take part in making decisions that affect their lives, avoiding discrimination and being able to thrive. Children were also significantly less confident about accessing appropriate help and support for their mental health needs than they were about their physical health needs.

“The survey responses indicate a keen desire from children and young people to learn more about rights. Of respondents, 76% said they had heard about children’s rights before doing the survey, but only 51% said they understood what children’s rights meant. 86% of respondents said children should learn about their rights, with 94% of them stating that school was the best place to learn about rights.”

Full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Reflecting on what changes can be made to protect children and young people, Fergal McFerran concluded:

“We are certain that the best way to protect children and young people from the many challenges they face is to see full and swift incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law.

“We look forward to engaging further with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child through the examination process, including leading a delegation of children and young people to Geneva in February. We hope to see a strong set of recommendations that ensure the UK Government and local decision makers fulfil their obligations in protecting children and young people here.”

What is the UNCRC examination process?

The UK Government signed up to the UNCRC in 1990 and it was ratified in 1991. By ratifying the UNCRC, the UK Government have a duty under international law to make sure the rights of all children and young people in Northern Ireland are protected, and to work towards making these rights a reality in law.

The UK Government must report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years to explain how well they are protecting children’ rights in Northern Ireland. The Committee then make concluding observations and recommendations for the UK Government to implement.

The Children’s Law Centre leads the Northern Ireland voluntary sector in submitting evidence to inform the examination process. The Centre’s youth panel, youth@CLC, also submits a children and young people’s report. The Children’s Law Centre will bring a delegation of young people to Geneva to meet with the UN Committee in February 2023.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the reports

The Children’s Law Centre was pleased to lead the sector once again in submitting the Northern Ireland NGO report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. We would like to thank our youth panel, youth@CLC, for helping us develop and submit the Rights Here, Right Now survey and report. We would like to thank the 1,026 respondents to the survey, the 127 children and young people who took part in workshops and the NGOs that contributed to the Stakeholder Report 2 and associated Stakeholder Report 2 Evidence. Finally, we would like to thank Jerome Finnegan of Save the Children for his assistance in developing and analysing the survey and Dr Deena Haydon for her extensive work gathering, analysing and writing up the information presented in these reports.