Why Park Seong-su, Songpa District Mayor, Listened to Voices from Childcare Sites?

UNICEF-Certified Child-Friendly City Songpa-gu Holds 'Child Group Home Facility Directors' Council' (1/26) and 'Local Childcare Center Facility Directors' Meeting' (1/27) to Welcome the New Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, held consecutive meetings with the heads of the local ‘Child Shared Living Home Facilities Association’ and the ‘Local Children’s Center Care Facility Directors’ to mark the New Year.

Songpa-gu is a ‘Child-Friendly City’ certified by UNICEF in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2021, it was ranked 4th among 243 local governments nationwide and 2nd among Seoul’s autonomous districts for advanced-level certification. Currently, it operates the largest number of 106 district-run daycare centers in Seoul and is leading child policies such as being the first autonomous district in the country to introduce ‘Night Emergency Care Services’ for infants and toddlers.

On January 26, Mayor Park Seong-su first met with the heads of the local ‘Child Shared Living Homes’ to listen to their voices from the field. A shared living home is a small-scale child welfare facility that supports children who need foster care due to reasons such as guardian illness, runaway, abuse, or economic problems, allowing them to grow up in a normal family environment. There are a total of 7 child shared living homes in the area, housing 39 children.

Mayor Park listened to the difficulties faced on site and promised to provide Songpa-type disaster relief funds and support for COVID-19 quarantine measures.

Next, on January 27, he held a ‘Local Children’s Center Care Facility Directors Meeting’ with the directors of 19 local children’s centers responsible for after-school care for about 600 elementary, middle, and high school students in Songpa-gu.

Mayor Park noted that as in-person classes have been reduced due to COVID-19, the importance of local government care services and after-school education has increased. He listened to the changes and demands in the child care field and discussed ways to revitalize and develop the operation of local children’s centers. They also talked about facility safety management measures following the implementation of the ‘Serious Accidents Punishment Act.’

Mayor Park said, “We will carefully gather voices from the field and provide multifaceted, customized support, including the provision of Songpa-type disaster relief funds, so that children, the future of Songpa-gu, can grow up healthy and realize their dreams.”

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