Governance Fit for Children: To what extent have the general measures of implementation of the CRC been realised in the UK?

This study is part part of the ‘Governance fit for children’ project, and aims to examine the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s ’General measures of implementation’ (GMI) in five EU countries and in EU institutions. The studies carried out in Sweden, Romania, Lithuania, Italy and the United Kingdom, examine the implementation at national and local level, and the present study is the examination of the situation in the UK. The main components of the study, upon which this report is based, were conducted according to a common methodology across the five countries.

The UK study reveals, among other findings, that whilst there are some good examples of the GMI being implemented in the UK, much more effort is required to ensure these building blocks are firmly in place. On a number of occasions, government Ministers from the UK Government and each of the devolved administrations have publicly committed to implementing the CRC. If such commitments are to become a reality for all children in the UK, then the concerns raised in this report must be fully addressed and its recommendations implemented.