The BHA, as part of a wider coalition called Rights of the Child UK (ROCK), is supporting calls to embed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into UK law.
The Children’s Rights Bill – Baroness Walmsley’s “Private Member’s Bill”, will be debated in the House of Lords tomorrow. The Bill would incorporate the CRC in UK law in the same way that the Human Rights Act entrenches the European Convention on Human Rights. The BHA has sent a briefing to members of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group asking them to support the Bill.
BHA Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips said, ‘The BHA is supporting this Bill because it will help to ensure that all young people have access to information about their rights. Cementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in UK law will help to empower young people to stand up for the rights to which they are entitled.
‘Importantly, this will include the rights to freedom of belief and expression which will mean greater clarity regarding issues such as collective worship in education and the rights of young people to hold different beliefs to their parents.’
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For comment or information please contact Naomi Phillips on 07540 257101, 020 7079 3585.
Other members of the coalition include Unicef UK, Save the Children UK, NCB and the NSPCC
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