Dominican Republic

Child Friendly Municipalities
The Mayors Defenders of Children Initiative began in the Dominican Republic in 1994 after several regional meetings determined that childrens' issues should be at the centre of business on the municipal agenda. The initiative was not immediately implemented, but was reintroduced in 1999 as part of a project for strengthening the planning and administrative capacity of the municipalities. As such, the initiative was structured to involve local level civil society and other local sectors, and was removed from the mayors' auspices, given recent political changes threatening the initiative's status as "child friendly." It was decided that the sala capitular, or town council would be the approving body and that the initiative would be approved through a legally-binding resolution. The result was Child Friendly Municipalities, binding no matter which political party controls the municipality.

In order for UNICEF to support the initiative, a set of requirements was drawn up which clearly indicated what was expected of the municipality in terms of commitments and what percentage of support could be counted on from UNICEF. The initiative started on a pilot basis with seven municipalities, chosen on the basis of interest, economic level, geographical location and size. Municipalities from all political parties were represented. By the end of the first year, 14 municipalities participated. In 2001, a year a half after the initiative was implemented, 35 municipalities have joined us, out of a total of 118 nation-wide. So far, we have achieved the establishment of three decentralised training centres, in co-ordination with local universities. 120 facilitators are presently being trained to take over the training activities at the municipal level. The first group of facilitators trained by the project is already carrying out training activities. In addition, two diploma-granting training packages have been developed and endorsed by the universities-one for the facilitators and one for candidates for public office on the municipal level. A set of 5 training manuals are being generated and published and a journal (Boletin de Gestion Municipal) introduced to reinforce training content. Seven issues of this journal have come out thus far. Child Friendly Urban Areas, a manual for action, has also been published. Thirty municipalities have allocated space for the construction of a park geared toward children and youth. The initiative has also trained some 300 adolescents in puppet theatre and traditional theatre. They have formulated and adapted plays to highlight the issues of rights and HIV, and this has been very well received on the local level. The new national authorities are committed to decentralising responsibilities and budgets and to taking on new responsibilities with a child rights perspective. And new donors are interested in participating. In short, the initiative is proving a success in the Dominican Republic's municipalities.

Contact

UNICEF Dominican Republic
Apartado Postal 1649
Santo Domingo
República Dominicana
Telephone (809) 540.2868
Fax (809) 540.3905
Email unicef@codetel.net.do