Child Friendly Cities

When the Child Friendly Cities site was first placed online it included a list of cities that met criteria of adherence to the principles of the global CFC Initiative or which had adopted CFC-type processes. Some were members of national or international networks and/or programmes (e.g., the UNESCO-supported Growing Up in Cities initiative), while others were noteworthy for developing child rights-focussed initiatives at the local governance level. The purpose of the list was to provide examples of action at municipal level, backed by relevant documentation, as a way to stimulate appreciation of Child Friendly processes within cities in a global perspective.

The list was not intended to be either exhaustive or homogeneous. Since resources did not allow for a systematic monitoring of CFC worldwide, updates were based on the submission of data by cities or supporting institutions. Over time, however, the updating became less regular and the list became outdated. It has therefore been removed and a review is underway to identify ways to more effectively share information about child friendly cities.

The review is addressing the key issue of when can a city be considered to be "child friendly", and how (or whether) this status can be certified. It is clear that in view of the dramatically different contexts of cities around the world, there cannot be a rigid international standard set of quantitative criteria or formal mechanism for defining a CFC. Moreover, as the Initiative has developed, many countries have developed national level efforts and organized ways to identify child friendly cities and communities according to locally agreed standards and methods.

We will keep you advised of the progress of this review and its findings about the current status of Child Friendly Cities.

Updated May 2008