Programme

Switzerland & Liechtenstein

Kinderfreundliche Gemeinde / Communes amies des enfants / Comune amico dei bambini

In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the UNICEF initiative “Child-Friendly Cities” has been active since 2004, operating under the name “Kinderfreundliche Gemeinde”, “Commune amie des enfants” and “Comune amico dei bambini” in its different linguistic regions.

The initiative aims at ensuring the rights of children to participate, be protected, supported and treated equally in their everyday lives. This is reflected in how their rights are implemented in the following areas: administration and politics, child hearing, child and youth protection and prevention, education, early childhood development, health and leisure and urban planning/spatial development.

A community wishing to be recognized as child-friendly must follow a clearly defined process. It must conduct a local situation analysis (1) based on an extensive online questionnaire and convene workshops with children and young people (2) to include their perspectives. Based on the results of the situation analysis and the workshops, communities then develop an action plan (3) with concrete measures that favour children and adolescents. After the implementation phase, external evaluators and representatives of UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein in a last step assess the different steps and documents, during a so-called evaluation day (4) in the community.

If the evaluation is favourable, the community is recognized as child-friendly. The recognition is valid for a period of four years with annual reportings as well as an interim review conducted after two years. UNICEF offers guidance and support to participating municipalities throughout the whole process.

As of beginning 2023, 54 municipalities, including the capital city of Bern, have received a child-friendly city recognition, of which the majority of all communities have been recognized at least twice.

Several cantons, one foundation and one corporate partner financially support participating communities and cities.

Between 2020 and 2022 a CFCI newsletter was published four times a year, which includes updates on the Committee’s CFCI work, recent developments, publications and events as well as inspiring examples from Child Friendly Cities and Communities in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (see below). As per 2023 UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein has launched a broader “Child Right’s Newsletter”, available in German, French and Italian. You can sign up for it here.