Sri Lanka

[Past initiative]

In Sri Lanka, as in many other countries around the world, local governments are responsible for the provision and coordination of many social services and take many decisions that have the greatest direct impact on children’s lives. A child-friendly city, town, community, or any system of local governance is committed to improving the lives of children by realizing their rights as articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It ensures that children’s voices, needs, and priorities are an integral part of public policies, programmes, and decisions.

Since 2018, Batticaloa Municipality and its neighbouring local authorities have ventured towards becoming more and more child-friendly. This video shows some impressions from this journey, and the results it has yielded to date. It illustrates some of the elements of a child-friendly municipality, the people involved in making it happen, and the large impacts that small changes in approaches and mindsets can have.