Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the United Nations General Assembly of 17 December 2018 on the Rights of the Child; and if he will make a statement.

The government remains fully committed to protecting the Rights of the Child and to give due consideration to the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) when making policy and legislation. This was most recently re-iterated in a written ministerial statement for Universal Children’s Day on 20 November 2018 (HCWS1093), which can be accessed here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-11-20/HCWS1093/. In support of this, all civil servants have access to online children’s rights training and to a template for conducting a Childs Rights Impact Assessment.

The UK will submit its next periodic report to the United Nations (UN) by 14 January 2022, reporting on ongoing government measures to implement the UNCRC in the UK.

The UN General Assembly had a particular focus on gender equality in relation to the Rights of the Child and urged states to eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls, particularly regarding access to and participation in education. ‘Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change’, published 3 July 2019 by the former Minister for Women and Equalities (Penny Mordaunt), my right hon. Friend for Portsmouth North, sets out the government's plans to address the persistent gendered barriers people face at every stage of life. The roadmap highlights plans to invest in programmes to increase participation, particularly by girls, in science, technology, engineering and maths education, to publish research and implement tools to tackle poor body image and examines how to engage boys and men on gender issues.

2019 marks the 30^th anniversary of the UNCRC and the government is actively engaging with the UN to mark this important occasion and reflect on the work that we do to protect the rights of children in the UK and around the world.