In 1996, acting on the resolution passed during the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) to make cities liveable places for all, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) launched the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI).
CFCI is led by UNICEF to support municipal governments in realising the rights of children at the local level, with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as its foundation.
It is also a network that gather government and other stakeholders including civil society organisations, the private sector, academia, the media and, most importantly, children themselves who want to make their cities and communities more adaptable to their needs.
So, what makes a city child friendly? From UNICEF’s perspective – and based on experiences of cities who have implemented this initiative over the past few decades – it takes account of the voices, needs, priorities, and rights of children as integral in developing public policies, programmes, and decisions.
Generally, a child friendly city, town, or community ensures that 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; and
- Have a fair chance in life regardless of their ethnic origin, religion, income, gender, or ability.
The Malaysian branch of UNICEF has been advocating for CFCI since 2018, and has received keen interest and commitment from over 20 local authorities up to this day.
At present, Petaling Jaya in Selangor is the only city in Malaysia recognised as a UNICEF Child Friendly City, joining a network of hundreds of Child Friendly Cities in 40 countries worldwide.
Additionally, five other municipalities have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with UNICEF to embark on the initiative, all of which are located in Sarawak. They are Kuching North, Kuching South, Padawan, Sibu and Miri.
These followed the ‘UNICEF Child Friendly Cities: East Asia – Europe Interregional Exchange’, a six-day exchange programme that took place in Spain and Finland in early September 2023 where delegates from the Sarawak Government had the opportunity to establish a collaborative network and linkages with participating CFCI cities.
Led by Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Well-being Development Sarawak YB Dato Sri Hajah Fatimah Abdullah, the programme had given the delegates valuable insights into various actions and approaches that could be replicated, adopted, and adapted by relevant ministries, agencies, and local authorities to embark on CFCI in Sarawak.
“One approach is for us to set up CFCI Sarawak, with a central agency to provide the coordination and stewardship for an integrated, comprehensive, balanced, coordinated, and evidence-based child friendly cities initiatives for Sarawak,” she said during a press conference on 3 October 2023.
She emphasised the need to guarantee children and young people’s active engagement in urban development, whether through the formation of councils or commissions that they can be a part of, or informal mechanisms including social media, youth groups and local meetings.
As a first step in Sarawak’s CFCI journey, University of Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Swinburne University and University of Technology Sarawak are tasked to carry out a study on the child friendly city concept in the aforementioned municipalities in the State.
These three universities are then expected to develop a proposal for these local authorities to work on improvements required to fulfil the initiative.
“UNICEF will monitor the implementation for three years. We hope that the organisation will recognise these cities as child-friendly cities,” said Dato Sri Fatimah during a later press conference on 16 October 2023.
Learn more about the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI): https://childfriendlycities.org/what-is-the-child-friendly-cities-initiative/
References:
Chua, A. (2023, October 16). Three universities to study child-friendly city concept in Sarawak. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/10/16/three-universities-to-study-child-friendly-city-concept-in-sarawak
Malaysia. (n.d.). Child Friendly Cities Initiative. https://www.childfriendlycities.org/initiatives/malaysia
Ministry: Central agency to oversee Child Friendly Cities Initiative in Sarawak. (2023, October 3). DayakDaily. https://dayakdaily.com/ministry-central-agency-to-oversee-child-friendly-cities-initiative-in-sarawak/
Noor, S.H. (2023, October 3). State gets going on child friendly city initiative. New Sarawak Tribune. https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/state-gets-going-on-child-friendly-city-initiative/
What is a child friendly city? (n.d.). Child Friendly Cities Initiative. https://www.childfriendlycities.org/what-is-a-child-friendly-city
