Working from practice experiences, Social Work educators from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Norway and Western Australia have developed a framework for child welfare work . The framework brings together the Rights of the Child, Community Development and Child Protection. This article describes the principles and theoretical underpinnings of this…

Children in foster care often have no means of influencing matters that concern them, and can easily become outsiders in their own lives. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines the rights of capable children to express their views freely in matters affecting them and to be heard in any judicial or administrative…

EPIC is an independent voluntary organisation in the Republic of Ireland that advocates for the rights of children in care and young people who have care experience. One aspect of EPIC's work is the Aftercare Advocacy and Support Service, which provides confidential advice and support to young people who are preparing to leave care, those in…

Ireland's second periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) presents the government's case that it is succeeding in protecting and promoting the rights of all children in Ireland. This article presents a critical discourse analysis of the government's Report to the CRC. Using a refined critical discourse…

The focus of this article is to provide a child rights analysis of the equity of educational experience afforded to young people outside mainstream schools by alternative providers. The dilemma for policy and existing practice is that alternative education supports children's right to an education as stated in Article 28 of the United Nations…

Under Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child under the age of 18 has the right to engage in age-appropriate play and leisure activities. Drawing on the qualitative findings of a wider review of children's rights in Northern Ireland, this article examines the degree to which adolescents in Northern…

The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989 and its ratification by the UK government two years later came at a time of considerable progress in youth justice. The Convention itself set clear standards of treatment, in terms of both processes and disposals, which appeared at the time to provide positive…

The twentieth century began with children having virtually no universally accepted rights but ended with the most powerful international legal instrument supporting their rights: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The challenge for interested parties in the twenty-first century is effective implementation of this Convention.…

This article explores the fundamental right of disabled children to feel safe and be free from bullying, harassment and abuse. The article proposes that, 20 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, disabled children are still facing barriers to securing this right. The article focuses on recent Mencap research that…

Children's right to participate as enshrined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is increasingly evident in the rhetoric of policy documents as well as in practice and research with children and young people. Children's participation in research is being facilitated in a range of creative ways, including as…

The 40 substantive rights contained within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989, have applied, without discrimination, to all children in the United Kingdom since 1992. However, recurrent tragedies starkly highlight the potential vulnerability of some children when their parents experience mental health…

There is much debate about the rights of children relating to the nature and degree of their participation in Public Law Proceedings. Articles 12 (1) and 12 (2) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 emphasise that children should be involved in decision-making about their welfare; and children who are capable of…

Put in place to protect the rights of the child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a set of non-negotiable standards. A core principle underpinning the Convention is the child's right to participate fully in social arenas and to access sources of social support without excessive interference. Juxtaposing this is the right of the child…

This article summarizes an original conference, organised by the Child Care Research Forum (http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/ccrf/), which brought together experts from all over Northern Ireland to showcase some of the wealth of research with children and young people that is going on in the country today. Developed around the six high-level outcomes of…

The present paper provides an overview of child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland and related issues. It focuses on Barnardo's response to the problem of sexual exploitation and sets it in both a historical and a contemporary context. The paper considers the importance of recognising exploitation as child abuse and addresses specific myths…