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ABSTRACT
Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) is used to assess systematically the impact on children of laws, policies or budgetary allocations as measured against the Articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and domestic human rights/child wellbeing frameworks. Internationally, a small number of governments at central, regional and local level have introduced or attempted CRIA. However, where available, documentary analysis of the assessments and published evaluations of these existing models raise questions about the quality of the impact assessments being produced. This paper examines the use of CRIA with a particular focus on the UK and its devolved governments, looks at issues that can limit its effectiveness, and suggests what should be in place to support the potential of CRIA. These include: a clear mandate for CRIA with sustained political commitment, children’s rights training and access to expert advice, tools to guide and shape the process, access to relevant data sets, and a clear expectation of involving children. Many of the practice findings draw on research conducted for UNICEF UK on CRIA practice in the UK.
Acknowledgments
This article draws on research undertaken for UNICEF UK in 2017 (note 10), as well as conversations with colleagues involved in CRIA from around the world, whether as policy-makers, legislators, lobbyists, academics or practitioners. It also arises from personal experience of developing CRIA tools for local, regional and central government, and of drafting and commissioning CRIAs for the children’s NGO sector.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Lisa Payne has worked on child and family policy, and children’s rights issues, for 25 years. Currently, she works as a child policy research consultant on a range of UK policy areas including education, children’s social care, and unaccompanied and separated migrant children. At the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) in London, and on behalf of Westminster’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Children, Lisa pioneered Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA), commissioning, editing and drafting a number of child impact statements on UK Public Bills between 1998 and 2007. More recently, she worked with the Scottish Government when they developed their CRWIA template and guidance.
Notes
1 In this article, I am using the term ‘children’ to refer to children and young people up to age 18. For a discussion of general measures of implementation, see article by Collins, this edition.
2 T. Collins and L. Woolf, ‘Work in Progress: Twenty-Five Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the General Measures of Implementation across the Globe’, Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights 1, no. 1 (2014): 86.
3 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5 on General Measures of Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6), para. 45 (Geneva, 2003).
4 UNICEF and European Commission, Child Rights Toolkit Module 5: Child Impact Assessments (New York: UNICEF, 2014), https://www.unicef.org/eu/crtoolkit/downloads/Child-Rights-Toolkit-Module5-Web-Links.pdf.
5 L. Lundy et al., The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Study of Legal Implementation in 12 Countries (London: UNICEF UK, 2012), https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/UNICEFUK_2012CRCimplementati on 4 onreport-FINAL-PDF-version.pdf?_ga=2.238757379.2027309634.1520614331-308214244.1520614331.
6 C. Grace, Reducing Complexity and Adding Value: A Strategic Approach to Impact Assessment in the Welsh Government (Cardiff: Public Policy Institute for Wales, 2016), 5. http://ppiw.org.uk/files/2014/10/Reducing-Complexity-and-Adding-Value_FINAL-30-Apr.pdf.
7 J. Angus, ‘Placing Children at the Centre of Policy Making: A Discussion Paper on Child Impact Assessment’ (working paper, New Zealand: Social Services Policy Division of the Ministry of Social Development, 2007). Quoted in N. Mason and K. Hanna, Undertaking Child Impact Assessments in Aetearoa New Zealand Local Authorities: Evidence, Practice, Ideas (Auckland: Auckland University of Technology, 2009), 7. http://www.occ.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Reports/Child-rights/Undertaking-child-impact-assessments.pdf.
8 E. Desmet, H. Op de Beeck, and W. Vandenhole, ‘Walking a Tightrope: Evaluating the Child and Youth Impact Report in Flanders’, International Journal of Children’s Rights 23, no. 1 (2014): 78–108; S. Hoffman and C. Morse, Evaluation of the Welsh Government’s Child Rights Impact Assessment Procedure under the Children’s Rights Scheme Pursuant to the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 (Swansea: Wales Observatory on Human Rights of Children and Young People, 2016), https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa30963; N. Mason and K. Hanna, Undertaking Child Impact Assessments in Aetearoa New Zealand Local Authorities (2009). http://www.occ.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Reports/Child-rights/Undertaking-child-impact-assessments.pdf.
9 C. Chanchitpricha, A. Bond, and M. Cashmore, Effectiveness Criteria for measuring Impact Assessment Tools (Norwich: School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, 2013),
10 L. Payne, Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA): A Review of Comparative Practice Across the UK (London: UNICEF UK, 2017), https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Unicef-UK-CRIA-comparative-review_FOR-PUBLICATION.pdf.
11 J. Harrison and M-A. Stephenson, Human Rights Impact Assessment: Review of Practice and Guidance for Future Assessments (Edinburgh: Scottish Human Rights Commission, 2010), http://fian-ch.org/content/uploads/HRIA-Review-of-Practice-and-Guidance-for-Future-Assessments.pdf; B.A. Andreassen and H-O Sano, ‘What’s the Goal? What’s the Purpose? Observations on Human Rights Impact Assessment, International Journal of Human Rights 11, no. 3 (2007), 275–92.
12 C. McCrudden, ‘Mainstreaming human rights’ in Human Rights in the Community: Rights as Agents for Change, ed. C.J. Harvey (Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2004), 9–12.
13 G. de Beco, ‘Human Rights Impact Assessments’, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 27, no. 2 (2009), 139–66; J. Harrison and M-A. Stephenson, Human Rights Impact Assessment; Nordic Trust Fund and the World Bank, Human Rights Impact Assessment: a Review of the Literature, Differences from other forms of Assessment, and Relevance for Development (Washington DC: World Bank, 2013), http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PROJECTS/Resources/40940-1331068268558/HRIA_Web.pdf.
14 D. Kemp and F. Vanclay, ‘Human Rights and Impact Assessment: clarifying the Connections in Practice’, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal: Journal of the International Association for Impact Assessment 31, no. 2 (2013), 86–96.
15 European Commission, Guidelines on the Analysis of Human Rights Impacts in Impact Assessments for Trade-Related Policy Initiatives (Belgium, 2015), http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2015/july/tradoc_153591.pdf.
16 de Beco, ‘Human Rights Impact Assessments’, 141.
17 European Commission, Better Regulation: Guidelines and Toolbox (Belgium, 2017), https://ec.europa.eu/info/better-regulation-guidelines-and-toolbox_en .
18 United Kingdom Cabinet Office, Guide to Making Legislation, para.12.29 (London, 2017), https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/645652/Guide_to_Making_Legislation_Jul_2017.pdf.
19 B. Byrne and L. Lundy, ‘Reconciling Children’s Policy and Children’s Rights: Barriers to Effective Government Delivery’, Children & Society 29, no. 4 (2015), 266–76; J. Pinkerton, ‘Children’s Participation in the Policy Process’, Children & Society 18, no. 2 (2004), 119–30; A. Crowley ‘Is Anyone Listening?: the Impact of Children’s Participation in Public Policy’, International Journal of Children’s Rights 23, no. 3 (2015), 602–21.
20 C. Corrigan (2006), The Development and Implementation of Child Impact Statements in Ireland (Dublin: Office of the Minister for Children, 2006), https://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/research/Development_and_Implementation_of_Child_Impact_Statements_in_Ireland.pdf; UNICEF Canada, Child Rights Impact Assessments: The Fundamentals. Evidence Submitted by UNICEF Canada to the Standing Committee on Human Rights, 3 Feb 2014 (Toronto: UNICEF Canada, 2014), https://www.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/imce_uploads/cria_senate_presentation_unicef_canada_feb_3_2014.pdf.
21 UNICEF and European Commission, Child Rights Toolkit Module 5, 2.
22 New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate, Child Rights Impact Assessment: A Primer for New Brunswick (Fredericton, New Brunswick: Office of the Child and Youth Advocate of New Brunswick, 2016), http://www.cyanb.ca/images/PDFs/CRIA_Primer_New_Brunswick.pdf.
23 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, ‘Child Rights Impact Assessment’. http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/mapping-child-protection-systems-eu/impact-assessment.
24 For England/UK https://www.gov.uk/; Northern Ireland https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/; Scotland http://www.gov.scot/?_ga=2.3218034.375528663.1520611724-277046719.1520442727; Wales http://gov.wales/?lang=en.
25 House of Commons Written Statement, 6 December 2010, vol.520, col.7WS, https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2010-12-06/debates/1012063000011/ChildrenSCommissionerReview.
26 United Kingdom Cabinet Office, Guide to Making Legislation, 12.29.
27 Normally, between 15 and 25 government bills are published every year.
28 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Geneva, 2016).
29 Children and Social Work Bill Debate, 12 January 2017, col. 219-220, https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2017-01-12/debates/2aea2b6d-772e-422b-aca4-19b18339bc91/ChildrenAndSocialWorkBill(Lords)(SeventhSitting).
30 J. Harrison, ‘Establishing a meaningful Human Rights Due Diligence Process for Corporations: learning from experience of Human Rights Impact Assessment’, Impact assessment and project appraisal: Journal of the International Association for Impact Assessment 31, no. 2 (2013), p.111.
31 Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998: Practical Guidance on Equality Impact Assessment (Belfast: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, 2005), http://www.equalityni.org/ECNI/media/ECNI/Publications/Employers%20and%20Service%20Providers/Public%20Authorities/EQIA-PracticalGuidance(2005).pdf.
32 B. Byrne and L. Lundy, Barriers to Effective Government Delivery for Children in Northern Ireland (Belfast: Queen’s University Belfast and Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, 2011), http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/12210/2/QUB%20Barriers%20Report%20-%203%20Nov%2011%20%28body%20pages%29.pdf.
33 The Good Friday, or Belfast, Agreement was ratified by the UK and Irish Governments in May 1998, and came into force in December 1998. It led to the establishment of a power-sharing Executive and Assembly to govern Northern Ireland by cross-community consent.
34 The publication of the final version of the strategy has been delayed until the two main parties in Northern Ireland are able to agree and form a new government.
35 Northern Ireland Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Our Children and Young People: Our Pledge. A Ten-Year Strategy for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland 2006-2016 (Belfast, 2006), https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/education/ten-year-strategy.pdf.
36 Northern Ireland Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Working paper on the Emerging Strategy (2003). Quoted in Byrne and Lundy, Barriers to Effective Government Delivery), 22.
37 Northern Ireland Department of Education, Children and Young People’s Strategy 2017-2027: Consultation Document (Belfast, 2016), https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultations/education/Children%20and%20young%20people%27s%20strategy%20%284%29.pdf.
38 Scottish Government Official Report, 19 Feb 2014, session 4, col.27746, http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9473&mode=pdf.
39 Scottish Government, Getting it Right in Policy and Legislation: When and How to best use the Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) (Edinburgh, 2015); Scottish Government, Children’s Rights Legislation in Scotland: a Quick Reference Guide (Edinburgh, 2015), https://beta.gov.scot/policies/human-rights/childrens-rights/.
40 Welsh Government, Children’s Rights Scheme: approved by the National Assembly for Wales on 29 April 2014 (Cardiff, 2014), http://www.assembly.wales/Laid%20Documents/GEN-LD9732%20-%20Children%27s%20Rights%20Scheme%202014-22042014-255569/gen-ld9732-e-English.pdf.
41 Hoffman and Morse, Evaluation of the Welsh Government’s Child Rights Impact Assessment Procedure.
42 Welsh Government, Report on the Compliance with the Duty under Section 1 of the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011, June 2015-January 2018 (Cardiff, 2018), http://gov.wales/docs/dsjlg/publications/cyp/180306-compliance-report-en.pdf.
43 Corrigan, The development and implementation; Grace, Reducing complexity and adding value.
44 E. Desmet, The Child and Youth Impact Report (JoKER) in Flanders (presentation, Ottawa, 14 May 2013), https://www.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/legacy/imce_uploads/BLOG/3._desmet_dr.ellen_ghentuniversity_universityofantwerp.pdf; Mason and Hanna, Undertaking Child Impact Assessments in Aetearoa New Zealand Local Authorities; UNICEF Canada, Child Rights Impact Assessments.
45 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5, para. 47.
46 Desmet, de Beeck, and Vandenhole, ‘Walking a tightrope’.
47 J. Tobin, ‘Understanding a Human Rights Based Approach to Matters involving Children: Conceptual Foundations and Strategic Considerations’, in The Human Rights of Children: from Visions to Implementation, ed. A. Invernizzi and J. Williams (Abingdon: Routledge, 2016) Retrieved from https://www.bl.uk/
48 Hoffman and Morse, Evaluation of the Welsh Government’s Child Rights Impact Assessment Procedure.
49 Scottish Government, Getting it Right in Policy and Legislation, 8–9.
50 UNICEF, ‘Child Rights Toolkit – draft version. Vol.2: Annexes’ (unpublished paper, UNICEF, 2011).
51 UNICEF, ‘Child Rights Toolkit – draft version, Vol.1’ (unpublished paper, UNICEF, 2010), para.6.3.
52 J. Harrison, Measuring Human Rights: Reflections on the Practice of Human Rights Impact Assessment and Lessons for the Future: research paper 2010/26 (Coventry: University of Warwick School of Law, 2010), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1706742.
53 Scottish Government, Getting it Right in Policy and Legislation.
54 Welsh Government, Child Rights Scheme.
55 Payne, Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA), 48–50.
56 UNICEF and European Commission, Child Rights Toolkit Module 5.