Since 2011, how many Cabinet papers, Regulatory Impact Assessments
and other disclosure statements have included reference to the
Government’s compliance requirements under the CRC?
Since 2011, have any Cabinet papers, Regulatory Impact Assessments and
other disclosure statements identified any potential inconsistencies with
the CRC?
What further steps arising from its CRC Work Programme does the
Government intend to take to develop a Child Rights Impact Assessment
process in the formation of legislation and policy?
C. National Plan of Action – Background information
Relevant provision of the CRC: Article 4
CO 2011: The Committee encourages the State party to adopt a comprehensive policy and
corresponding national plan of action for the implementation of the Convention and the
Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, in cooperation with the
public and private sectors involved in the promotion and protection of children’s rights and
based on a child rights approach. In doing so, the State party should take into account the
outcome document of the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly, entitled
“A world fit for children”, and its mid-term review of 2007. The Committee also
recommends that the State party ensure that there are follow-up and evaluation mechanisms
that will regularly assess progress achieved and identify possible deficiencies to enable the
full implementation of the comprehensive policy and plan of action.
57.
The Government is yet to develop a comprehensive national plan of action for the
implementation of the CRC. The Government Report instead refers to a variety of
significant and extensive policy measures that are being taken across government to
improve outcomes for children and young people, including the Better Public Service
Results (BPS) and the Children’s Action Plan (CAP).
58.
The BPS policy is a series of ten public sector targets set by the State Services
Commission. It does not incorporate the CRC into its policy architecture or language.
BPS Results 2-4 set targets related to outcomes for vulnerable children, namely higher
immunisation rates, reduced prevalence of rheumatic fever and increased participation
in early childhood education.
59.
The CAP developed from the Green Paper on Vulnerable Children (see paragraph 7
above) is a multi-sector action plan designed to improve outcomes for “vulnerable
children”, a cohort of children defined as being at risk of serious harm to their wellbeing. As noted above it has augmented the child protection system with a new range
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