Latest news News and press releases ECPAT UK welcomes the issues included by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its upcoming inspection of the UK Friday, 19th February 2021 The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has included the key concerns raised by ECPAT UK in its List of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR) of the combined sixth and seventh reports of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – part of the Committee’s examination of how well the UK is meeting its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. ECPAT UK was one of 90 children’s charities from across England, led by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), who submitted evidence on a number of urgent and critical children’s rights issues for the UN to investigate as part of its examination of the UK. The LOIPR has now been released by the Committee. ECPAT UK welcomes the inclusion of some of our key concerns, including expanding guardianship to all trafficked and unaccompanied children in England and Wales – part of our current stable futures campaign. Other key concerns included in the LOIPR are: strengthening the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the official process for identifying child victims of trafficking – by embedding it within child protection procedures protecting child victims from prosecution for offences committed as part of their exploitation establishing a child rights impact assessment procedure for all legislation and policies affecting children, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic strengthening the capacity of relevant professionals, including social workers, law enforcement authorities and the judiciary, to address violence against children including sexual exploitation and abuse Laura Durán, Senior Policy and Research Officer at ECPAT UK, said “We welcome the Committee’s list of issues ahead of the examination of the United Kingdom, which includes some of ECPAT UK’s main concerns about the current response to child trafficking. “The government has the opportunity to address these critical concerns and set a high standard for meeting children’s rights. We look forward to the government’s response next year setting out how they will meet their obligations to all children in the UK.” ENDS Press contact Sinead Geoghegan, Communications and Media Manager, ECPAT UK, [email protected], 07402 113 985 Manage Cookie Preferences