Gwangyang-si, Full-Scale Promotion of a Child-Friendly City

Accelerating the Stable Establishment and Strengthening of the Child-Friendly City Development Project

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Gwangyang City, the first city in Jeonnam to be certified as a UNICEF Child-Friendly City, announced on the 6th that it will actively promote the creation of a child-friendly city environment under the vision of "Creating a hopeful city where children dream of a happy future." The city aims to establish a system where children can grow as active members of our society and develop healthily and happily.

▶ Establishment of a dedicated organization for children's participation and rights

The city operates a Children's Participation Committee and a monitoring group, and holds a children's rights contest to collect children's opinions in all areas of city administration and increase opportunities for children to actively participate in policies. Through this, the city plans to guarantee children's right to participate and discover policy proposals and improvements for the local community.

▶ Publication of a child-friendly budget book

Among the 2020 expenditure budget, all budgets related to children are classified into six areas of child-friendliness (play and leisure, participation and citizenship, safety and protection, health and social services, educational environment, family environment). The resources and projects are analyzed from the perspective of children's rights and will be used as data for policy development in areas that need improvement.

▶ Implementation of a child-friendliness survey

A survey on children's living environment, physical and emotional health, child safety, and child abuse will be conducted targeting about 2,000 children, parents, and child-related personnel residing in Gwangyang City. Through this, the city will understand children's developmental processes and rapidly changing characteristics, suggest policy directions, and reflect them in the four-year plan (2022-2025).

▶ Promotion of key strategic projects for creating a child-friendly city

The city will promote a total of 62 key strategic projects, including 20 projects in six areas from the 2018-2021 four-year plan for creating a child-friendly city, and continuously discovered projects such as the tentative family-type children's theme park project and the establishment and operation of a comprehensive childcare support center.

▶ Visiting children's rights education

To foster a culture of guaranteeing children's human rights, after conducting a demand survey in February and March, the city will provide "visiting children's rights education" on guaranteeing children's rights and preventing violence to children, parents, and teachers in the region starting in April. In 2019, this education was conducted 176 times at 67 locations.

▶ Establishment of a leading full-day care system

To create a voluntary and proactive child care community centered on the local community on behalf of parents in dual-income or multi-child families, the city will continue to expand care centers.

Since 2019, there have been 74 care centers, including elementary after-school care classrooms, caring for 1,954 children. Among the children receiving care, 42.2% are children of dual-income families, and 82% are in lower elementary grades (1st to 3rd grade).

The city plans to expand four care centers by adding two centers annually this year and next year.

Kim Minyoung, Director of the Child-Friendly City Division, said, "We will comply with the 10 principles for building a UNICEF Child-Friendly City and establish a care system to create a city where children's rights are respected and a happy city that is good for raising children."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.