Hwasun-gun Certified as a ‘3 Major Friendly Cities’ for Children, Women, and the Elderly

[Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Ji-woon] Hwasun County, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Chung-gon) has become a local government certified as a ‘Child, Women, and Elderly Friendly City,’ a key project promoted during the 7th local government administration.

According to the county on the 16th, it recently received approval (certification) for membership in the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities & Communities (GNAFCC) from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Previously, the county was designated as a UNICEF Child-Friendly City and a Women-Friendly City by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in December of last year.

The Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities & Communities is a worldwide project promoted by the World Health Organization to effectively respond to the global trends of aging and urbanization.

It aims to create cities where aging is not inconvenient and where people of all ages want to live and continue living. It seeks to explore responses to aging societies with major member cities worldwide and engage in information sharing and exchange activities related to this.

The county is a super-aged society with 26.9% of its population aged 65 or older. The elderly population has been increasing annually, from 25.1% in 2019, 26% last year, to 26.9% this year.

In response, the county has promoted the creation of an age-friendly city and membership (certification) in the age-friendly city network as a pledge project of the 7th local government administration.

Efforts have been made to establish ordinances related to the creation of an age-friendly city, formulate basic plans for age-friendly city development, conduct age-friendliness surveys, and organize and operate an age-friendly city creation committee and monitoring group.

With the vision of ‘Hwasun, the number one place for happy aging and generational solidarity,’ the county plans to prepare and implement action plans in eight major areas of the WHO age-friendly city guide: ▲ safety and age-friendly facilities ▲ transportation convenience ▲ residential convenience ▲ participation in community activities ▲ social respect and inclusion ▲ utilization of elderly resources and job support ▲ communication and information provision ▲ local welfare and health.

Governor Gu Chung-gon said, “The certification of the three friendly cities is not the completion but the beginning of universal welfare,” adding, “Taking this certification as an opportunity, we will further expand social, economic, and cultural systems and infrastructure to create a warm welfare community where everyone from infants to the elderly wants to live.”

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