Submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Date: 4th October 2016
Category: Reporting to and monitoring the UNCRC

Together, along with the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) and the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group has submitted a joint GB response to the third UPR cycle taking place in May 2017.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.

The GB child rights coalitions' report to the UK's Universal Period Review, taking place in May 2017, emphasises the General Measures of Implementation and the General Principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It also continues to highlight common areas of concern that were raised in the UNCRC examination held earlier in 2016, from which the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child released a new set of Concluding Observations in June. Together will continue to work with sister organisations in England and Wales throughout the UPR process to push for recommendations on the General Measures Implementation, particularly around areas of common interest such as the British Bill of Rights child poverty, CRC action plans and the refugee crisis, in addition to other areas of priority identified by our members through this year's State of Children's Rights report.

• Read the child rights coalitions' report to the UPR here.

Together are also signed up to the UPR report submitted by the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), to which we submitted evidence from our 2015 report. A key theme to emerge from the BIHR evidence are concerns regarding the repeal of the Human Rights Act, growing poverty across the UK as a result of welfare reforms, and the damaging impact this is having on a number of human rights issues, including access to justice, children and women's rights and the right to an adequate standard of living. Their report calls on the UN to recognise the evidence from a range of civil society groups, and to ensure the UK Government, and the devolved administrations, are accountable for taking appropriate action and measures to redress these human rights concerns.

• Read the BIHR report here.