This is a town, city, municipality or any local system of governance, committed to ensuring children's rights. This is a town where the voices, needs, priorities and rights of the children are an integral part of public policies, programmes and decisions. The Child Friendly Municipality Initiative aims at supporting the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on regional level by creating a favourable environment for efficient protection of the rights of the children and enhancement of their well-being. The Child Friendly Municipality is based on the conclusions of the Conference (Habitat II) that the well-being of children is the ultimate indicator of a democratic society and good governance.
The Child Friendly Municipality is developed by UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre as result of a decision made in 1996 during the second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) concerning the Child Friendly City Initiative.
The Child Friendly Municipality initiative was successfully launched in Bulgaria across all local governments and specific interest was raised by 50 municipalities. Special orientation sessions were organized and support will be provided to 20 local governments in meeting the specific requirements of becoming a Child Friendly Municipality. The initiative has been identified as an important tool for working with local governments to strengthen their planning and budgetary capacities so that children's rights are better protected.
In 2009 the first 13 local governments met the requirement and received the Child Friendly Municipality Award. Following a comprehensive assessment process, the selected local governments agreed to support a child focused strategies and approaches, respecting the needs of children and encouraging child participation.
For further information, please contact Elena Atanassova at: eatanassova@unicef.org
