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Young people
Having your say on your rights
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child gives you a number of important rights and makes sure you can get your voice heard. The government must follow these rights when they make any decisions that affect you or your life.
About the Convention on the Rights of a Child
The United Nations created the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to ensure that all people under the age of 18 have a set of rights and freedoms to protect them.
The convention gives you over 40 rights. These include the right to:
- have your voice heard when decisions that may affect your life are being made
- practise your religion
- protection from abuse and violence
The United Kingdom ratified the convention in 1991, meaning that the country is committed to making sure these rights are given to all children and young people.
Committee on the Rights of a Child
The United Nations has also set up a special committee to ensure that every country that has signed up to the Convention is sticking to its obligations to promote your rights.
As part of this process, each country must send a report back to the committee every five years, showing how the Convention is being used when they make decisions and introduce laws that affect you.
A key part of this report is taken from comments and feedback from people like you on how they feel their rights are being respected in their day to day lives.
How your views are collected
The members of the United Nations asked the government to let them know how the rights of young people are being taken into consideration in the UK.
To do this, the government gave you a chance to send them your views on the rights mentioned in the Convention and whether you think there was more that could be done to promote them.
The survey covered a lot of areas including education, health and leisure facilities, and closed on 31 January 2007.
Your answers were collected and formed part of a report that was sent to the United Nations in July 2007.
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