Right Year for Children

The Right Year for Children (RY4C) is a year of action to strengthen children's rights in England.

It started on 16 December 2011, the 20th anniversary of the UK ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which offered a vision of the child/young person as an individual and a member of a family and a community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development.

RY4C is a coalition of children and young people's organisations of all sizes, who have come together to give a focus during 2012 to the issues raised by the CRC, which although ratified by the UK, is still not part of our law. You may have used the CRC in sessions with the children you work with or had them point out some of Articles to you – some children are well informed about their rights, others think they don't have any, or have them abused by people or circumstances.

There's some useful links to resources at bottom of the page.

You can join RY4C

If you represent an organisation working with or for children and young people in England, you can join the campaign as a partner or supporter.

Partner

Become a partner of The Right Year for Children by holding at least one event or activity, or publishing at least one document, before the of December 2012 that promotes the Convention on the Rights of the Child and uses The Right Year for Children logo.

Also use the logo on your letterheads, website and other materials throughout our year of action.

Supporter

Become a supporter of The Right Year for Children by using RY4C logo on your letterheads, website and other materials throughout the year of action. It doesn't matter if you start part way through - the more organisations involved the better!

Useful links and Resources

Children's Rights Alliance for England - they also have a really handy summary of the Convention & Articles
Save the Children publish resources from both a UK and a global perspective
UNICEF has a series of downloadable factsheets as well as FAQs, publications and resources

Children's Commissioner for England
Children's Commissioner for Wales
Scotland's Commissioner for Children & Young People
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children & Young People