Sarah Murphy MS, Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
We are ambitious for our next generation. We want Wales to be a wonderful place to grow up, live and work, now and in the future.
The Welsh Government has a longstanding commitment to children’s rights, enshrining them in law in the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is central to the development of all our policies for and affecting children and young people in Wales.
We publish a compliance report every two and a half years showing how we have met that commitment. The latest of these was issued in July 2023.
Our Children and Young People’s Plan sets out what we will do to support children and young people as they grow up in Wales. We published an update to the plan in January 2024. The update shows the breath of work we are doing in Welsh Government to improve the lives of all children and young people from support in the early years, within their families and in education and beyond. Our priorities reflect our belief that children and young people have the right to the best start in life; to be treated fairly, to have a secure home and to be mentally, physically and emotionally healthy.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child published their Concluding Observations report in June 2023. The publication was the culmination of their 6th and 7th Periodic review of the United Kingdom State Party as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Welsh Government, civil society and children and young people from Wales played a full role in supporting the work of the Committee and, as a government, we welcomed the constructive advice the Committee provided in their report.
The report is wide ranging and makes around 200 recommendations. Most of these are aimed generally at the UK, with many relating to Wales. They are designed to help Governments to implement the convention.
The Welsh Government welcomes the opportunity to respond to the recommendations and provide an update on our progress. Our response addresses those recommendations that substantively fall within the responsibilities of the Welsh Government and should be read alongside our Compliance Report and the update to the Children and Young Peoples Plan.
We want a Wales for all children and supporting them to access and realise their rights is central to that ambition.
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.
https://www.gov.wales/united-nations-convention-rights-child-welsh-government-response-2024