UCC Hosts 6th Colloquium on the Implementation of the UNCRC

12 Aug 2025

The Centre for Children’s Rights and Family Law, based in the School of Law at UCC hosted the 6th Colloquium on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Implementation Project (CRC-IP) from 23–25 July 2025.

This biennial event brings together leading scholars and practitioners in children's rights and family law to examine a specific article of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year’s chosen article was article 4 of the UNCRC, which outlines the obligations on the state to ensure the realisation of children’s rights. Attendees submitted full papers in advance of the event, allowing for in-depth discussion and collective analysis over the three-day programme. 

The Colloquium featured international perspectives from its participants, who joined us from across the world, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, as well as a range of European countries such as Scotland, Norway, and the Netherlands. The discussion provided an opportunity for extensive consideration of the legal, practical, and interdisciplinary dimensions of children’s rights implementation under article 4. Critical dialogue focused on strengthening accountability, advantages and complexities arising from different forms of legal incorporation, cross-border challenges in implementing children’s rights, and discussion of some contemporary issues such as children’s rights in the digital environment, assisted reproduction, international solidarity and children’s rights to identity. Across all sessions, the emphasis remained on bridging gaps between law, policy, and practice, with a clear focus on the importance and need for hope and creativity when considering actionable strategies for realising children’s rights in diverse contexts.