What is a child friendly city?
Make your city child friendly
A child friendly city is a city, town, community or any system of local governance committed to improving the lives of children within their jurisdiction by realizing their rights as articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In practice, it is a city, town or community in which the voices, needs, priorities and rights of children are an integral part of public policies, programmes and decisions.
Broadly speaking, it is a city, town or community where children:
- Are protected from exploitation, violence and abuse.
- Have a good start in life and grow up healthy and cared for.
- Have access to quality social services.
- Experience quality, inclusive and participatory education and skills development.
- Express their opinions and influence decisions that affect them.
- Participate in family, cultural, city/community and social life.
- Live in a safe secure and clean environment with access to green spaces.
- Meet friends and have places to play and enjoy themselves.
- Have a fair chance in life regardless of their ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or ability.
While the primary responsibility for ensuring that children’s rights are realized lies with governments, other stakeholders such as civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and the media, as well as children themselves, also have an important role to play in building child friendly cities.
