Finland’s capital Helsinki recognised as a Child Friendly City

The goals and results of Helsinki’s first Child Friendly City working period

Helsinki spent over two years striving for five goals. Many successes can already be seen in practice.

The first goal was to ensure that employees working with children and young people receive – and continue to receive – further education on children’s rights. According to UNICEF Finland, Helsinki has achieved the goal by training employees at youth services and child welfare, teachers and early childhood educators.

Helsinki’s second goal was to create clear guidelines to support the introduction and systematic implementation of child impact assessments in the city’s operations. During the first working period, Helsinki built a child impact assessment model for planning and preparing decisions. The model is firmly based on children’s rights, and it will increase the inclusion and participation of children and young people.

The city’s third goal was to ensure that feedback for its services is collected in a child-friendly, regular and systematic manner. Regarding this goal, the city’s feedback system has been developed together with children. Also, Helsinki has started to utilize the feedback gathered in its decision-making processes.

The fourth goal was centred around preventing bullying and promoting a sense of community. This goal has been met by promoting children’s social and emotional skills in their social environments.

For instance, schools prevent bullying by training staff, teaching emotional and interpersonal skills and using an intervention model. According to the statistics, children now feel that the adults at school intervene better to stop bullying. Unfortunately, the number of bullying incidents has not yet diminished.

The fifth and final goal was to strengthen children’s sense of safety in urban spaces by developing interaction. UNICEF Finland remarks that tangible results in safety cannot yet be confirmed due to the short time that has passed.

However, Helsinki has already applied an innovative and child-oriented approach which has included several successful pilots. For example, based on young people’s wishes, the city has replaced lighting and made public spaces more enjoyable in several local neighbourhoods according to the evaluation conducted to youth.

The work continues – by Helsinki and 58 other Finnish municipalities

Next, during the second development period, Helsinki will continue its Child Friendly City work with a new set of goals.

“We are happy to accept the Child Friendly City recognition. We want Helsinki to be a child-friendly city where every child and young person has the right to grow and develop safely. Every child is valuable, and children’s rights apply to all children. We will continue to work for children in cooperation with UNICEF,” says Mayor Juhana Vartiainen.

In 2024, Helsinki is one of the 59 Finnish municipalities participating in the initiative. Currently, 33 municipalities have been granted the recognition, and the initiative reaches 55 per cent of children living in Finland.

The Child Friendly Cities Initiative has been active in Finland since 2012, and it is led by the Finnish National Committee for UNICEF.

The initiative is a tool for municipalities to ensure the realization of child rights in the daily lives of every child. The initiative helps municipalities identify the most vulnerable children and to improve their well-being. The goal is to create permanent, structural changes in local governance structures.

LINKS:

• Finland | Child-Friendly Cities Initiative
• The Child Friendly Cities Initiative | Health and welfare promotion | City of Helsinki
• Helsinki is recognised as a Child Friendly City | City of Helsinki
• The rights of the child are increasingly visible in Helsinki’s work | City of Helsinki
• Helsinki is a good place for children and young people - Youth Helsinki
• City of Helsinki to implement more extensive child rights impact assessment | City of Helsinki