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Welcome to this special edition of our e-newsletter to celebrate the 21st birthday of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We certainly have much to celebrate, particularly with regard to developing policies and practices which have children’s rights in mind.
I would like to start with news of John Dunford’s review of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, published on 6 December. Like us, I know that many of you have been keenly awaiting the outcome of the independent review and I would like to thank those of you who have sent messages of support to me and my staff over the past few months.
I view the report’s recommendations on the future direction of the organisation as an encouraging step forward for children’s rights in England. There is now a commitment in Government to having an independent Children’s Commissioner, with a clearer focus on promoting and protecting children’s rights. It was appropriate that the Government accepted in principle all of John Dunford’s recommendations concerning an independent, UNCRC-focused Commissioner in the same month as we celebrated its significant anniversary.
While John Dunford’s recommendations will take a while to implement, we are keen to move ahead with as many of the report’s proposals as possible over the next year and look forward to working with our colleagues across the sector to implement the next steps in this process. You can read our full statement in response to the review outcome here.
In the meantime our work continues, and the period between October and March is likely to be an especially busy time for our office as we look forward to a number of key events and publications. You will find articles and reports on many of these in this month’s edition of our e-newsletter. I hope you enjoy the different contributions, which aim to shine a light on some of the work we all do to make the UNCRC a real force for good for the children and young people in this country. This month we have drawn more direct attention to the way in which we use the UNCRC to guide our work by including references to the relevant Convention Articles next to many of the reports you will read.
As ever, I am keen to hear your thoughts, so do send us any feedback you have.
May I take this opportunity to wish you a restful break over the holidays. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 2011.
With best wishes
Maggie Atkinson
Children’s Commissioner for England
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