The Welfare of the Child is Paramount Whatever their Immigration Status

A UNISON and BASW Conference challenging the UK Government to recognise their full obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

15 March 2008
Clore Management Centre
Birkbeck College Torrington Square
London WC17HX

Click here for a booking form (Word format)

The Challenge:

· To launch the campaign to promote the rights and welfare of children without UK Citizenship living in the UK

· To provide information and support for professionals working with these children to enable them to promote their rights and welfare in their every day practice.

· To lobby the UK Government to remove the reservation from the UNCRC

The Journey:

· The conference will be structured to address the following questions

• Where are we now?
• What do we want?
• How do we get there and what do we do in the meantime?

Participants will experience

The Human Story

• input from experts about what participants can do
• to protect and promote children's rights in the meantime under current legislation
• to support and promote the broader aims and principles of the campaign and conference;

Workshops which will be used to think more about certain aspects of the issue; and then small multi disciplinary groups will look at how participants can take forward the campaign, and practice in a way that sees the child as a child first, regardless of status.

We want participants to go away from the conference feeling that they can make a difference.