Last week I took a trip to Westminster Hall for a public debate about the human rights work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
The debate focused on a report recently published by the Foreign Affairs Committee following their inquiry into The FCO’s Human Rights Work 2010–11 . I was keen to go because UNICEF UK submitted evidence to the Inquiry regarding the FCO’s work on child rights.
UNICEF UK’s submission highlighted our concern that children’s rights are not being given enough attention in UK foreign affairs policy. For example, whereas the FCO used to have a child rights strategy, this ended in 2010 and has not been renewed. The FCO has also disengaged from its Child Rights Panel. UNICEF UK’s submission made a number of recommendations that would help the FCO to improve its work on child rights, including:
· That the FCO’s new Advisory Group on Human Rights should include a child rights expert
· That the FCO should adopt and implement a new child rights strategy
· For all FCO staff to receive training on children’s rights.
In 1989, governments worldwide promised all children the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). © UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1777/Pirozzi
Children make up a large proportion of the world’s population: with more than half the population in many developing countries under 18 years of age. Therefore, it is crucial for the FCO to make sure that the rights of children are safeguarded in all of its work to promote and protect human rights overseas.
Although children are entitled to the same human rights as adults, they are particularly vulnerable and therefore need special measures and support to ensure that they are able to realise their rights. The rights to which children are entitled are outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a signatory of the Convention, the UK Government has a duty to protect and promote children’s rights, both in the UK and in its work overseas.
In light of this, I was disappointed that the FCO’s response to the Foreign Affairs Committee report confirmed that child rights are not a priority for the FCO, and that they have no plans to draw up a new child rights strategy or make any additions to their Advisory Group on Human Rights.
I attended the Foreign Affairs Committee debate with the hope that Alistair Burt MP, (Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the FCO) speaking on behalf of the FCO, would be pressed further on this issue and the FCO’s responsibilities to children. I was interested to hear how he viewed the FCO’s role in protecting and promoting the rights of young people in other countries.
Unfortunately, however, I was disappointed in my efforts to get to the bottom of the FCO’s child rights responsibilities. Although numerous human rights issues were discussed, children’s rights received no more than a passing mention.
So while it was interesting to hear about the FCO’s human rights work overall, sadly there is obviously still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done before children’s rights are made a priority of the UK’s foreign policy agenda.
Hannah Doherty is Public Affairs Policy Intern.