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UN review of children’s rights in the UK
This month we attended the 93rd Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, during which the UK’s record on children’s rights was formally reviewed. Officials from the UK and devolved governments answered questions from the Committee on a wide range of topics affecting children, from violence against children and the use of Tasers by police, to the provision of mental health support and the UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill. The recent sessions can be viewed here and here.
The Committee will publish its final Concluding Observations in early June, which will include a set of recommendations for the UK. We aim to work with, and encourage, governments to implement these recommendations without delay in order to better protect children’s rights across the UK. You can view our recent report to the Committee and the upcoming Concluding Observations on our Human Rights Tracker.
| | Visit our Human Rights Tracker | |
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UN CRPD call for evidence
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) has issued a call for evidence. They are conducting a follow-up review of their 2016 inquiry into the UK and the recommendations they made at the time. You can find the original report here.
Organisations can submit written evidence to inform their follow-up review by 1 August 2023 or can share evidence in-person as part of the oral briefing on 28 August 2023. If you would like more information on this please contact the Secretariat for the UN CRPD on [email protected] or [email protected].
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Blog: public websites and accessibility
For Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we published a blog on why accessibility is important for public sector websites, and what we're doing to ensure digital services are inclusive.
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Our Business Plan 2023/24
We have published our Business Plan for 2023/24 which summarises the work we will focus on during the second year of our 2022-25 Strategic Plan.
Whether it be tackling discrimination through our legal powers, or protecting hard-won rights through our parliamentary work, our plan for the next year sees us promote and uphold equality and human rights standards for everyone in Britain. Our work to make Britain fairer centres around six strategic priorities:
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Blog: Hate crime and the Law Commission’s recommendations |
Read a blog from our CEO, Marcial Boo, on recommendations from the Law Commission outlining how the law can better protect people with protected characteristics and ensure justice for victims of hate crime in England and Wales.
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Preventing hair discrimination – help with our evaluation survey
Last year, we launched new resources to help end hair discrimination in schools. Now, we’re running an evaluation survey to help us assess their impact. Court cases and the experiences shared by stakeholders indicate that hair-based discrimination disproportionately affects girls and boys with Afro-textured hair or hairstyles.
Our resources are designed to help school leaders take important actions to make sure their schools are inclusive places and prevent any potential discrimination related to hair or hairstyles when drafting or reviewing relevant school policies.
Discrimination can range from describing someone’s hairstyle as ‘inappropriate’ or ‘exotic’ through to outright bans on certain hairstyles and bullying. Many of those affected say that their schools lack understanding about Afro hair and the care it needs.
We would like to ask those involved in education to complete a short confidential survey about the resources to help with our evaluation. Please share the survey with anyone who may be able to complete it. The survey is open until Friday 7 July 2023.
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Our response to media commentary about an internal investigation
We recently published a statement in response to media commentary regarding an internal investigation. This investigation has been paused whilst we seek legal advice on the impact of leaked confidential information. We must ensure its integrity and that it is fair to all parties concerned.
| | Read our recent statement on the internal investigation | |
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Parliamentary briefings
This month, we published briefings on the following Bills to advise on whether proposed policies and legal changes align with the requirements of equality and human rights law:
Additionally, last month the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill received Royal Asset and became law. This is an important step in ensuring that women do not face discrimination because of their pregnancy or maternity status. We are pleased that our 2015 research played a role in inspiring this legislation and will continue to advise the Government as and when the provisions come into effect next year.
| | Read our parliamentary briefings | |
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Blog: Responding to the Government's progress updates on the Inclusive Britain Action Plan
Last month, the UK government published an update on its progress against the Inclusive Britain Action Plan, which aims to tackle racial disparities in Britain. Jennifer Cannon (Principal in the Policy team) has written a blog in response, which you can read on our website.
| | Read our blog on the Inclusive Britain Action Plan |
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Consultation responses
We recently responded to a Department for Education call for evidence on the use of reasonable force and restrictive practices in school to help inform revisions to their guidance. Our response was informed by the evidence and findings of our 2021 inquiry into the use of restraint in schools and we are pleased to see a number of the recommendations that we made in the inquiry report reflected in the department’s proposals. Our response also draws on our human rights framework for restraint, which we recommend informs all policy developments on the use of restraint.
We also recently responded to a Department of Health and Social Care consultation on the development of a care workforce pathway for adult social care and a consultation by the Office of Students on regulating harassment and sexual misconduct in English higher education.
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