Monday, December 7, 2009

Child Friendly Cities


I actually practiced what I preached (for a change... ha), by checking out the IPA website, as I had suggested on my previous post and found this link to the website, Child Friendly Cities, a part of Unicef.

What is a child friendly city? I asked the same question......

In a nutshell, or the full version to be found here....

- It is a city, or more generally a system of local governance, committed to fulfilling children's rights, including their right to:
  • Influence decisions about their city
  • Express their opinion on the city they want
  • Participate in family, community and social life
  • Receive basic services such as health care and education
  • Drink safe water and have access to proper sanitation
  • Be protected from exploitation, violence and abuse
  • Walk safely in the streets on their own
  • Meet friends and play
  • Have green spaces for plants and animals
  • Live in an unpolluted environment
  • Participate in cultural and social events
  • Be an equal citizen of their city with access to every service, regardless of ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or disability
I read this and thought how lucky my kids are just to be in a city/country where much of this is taken for granted. It's hard to imagine it otherwise. But, as necessity is the mother of invention, this organization wouldn't exist but for a need...... Sad.

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