Gwangju Dong-gu Officially Launches Initiative to Create a 'Child-Friendly City'

The First Regular Meeting of the 'Child and Youth-Friendly City Promotion Committee' Held This Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) has embarked on a full-scale effort to create a child-friendly city where children can be happy.

Dong-gu announced on the 24th that it held the first regular meeting of the 'Child and Youth Friendly City Promotion Committee' this year on the 22nd.

The Child and Youth Friendly City Promotion Committee, which gathered for the regular meeting, is composed of 15 experts from various fields including the public, private, and academic sectors.

The committee will play a role in providing overall advice, suggestions, and deliberations regarding the basic direction of policies and project implementation for creating a child-friendly city.

At the regular meeting, the agenda included the 'Establishment of the 2022 Dong-gu Child-Friendly City Creation Implementation Plan,' with progress reports on projects carried out so far, sharing the operational direction of new policies and key projects for 2022, and discussing strategic measures to respond for obtaining UNICEF Child-Friendly City higher-level certification in January 2023.

Specific measures discussed at this regular meeting included seven new policies aimed at improving children's rights and the direction for promoting 31 key projects across five sectors (living environment, safety, educational environment, welfare, and the right to play) jointly pursued by all departments (▲ creation of child-customized apartments ▲ visiting traffic safety education ▲ support for talented children’s dream trees ▲ infant health allowance ▲ creation of Namgye Children’s Park, etc.).

In April, Dong-gu plans to conduct a 'Child-Friendly City Status Survey' targeting residents including workers at child-related institutions to collect broad opinions, establish a post-child impact assessment on policies implemented from 2019 to 2022, and begin preparations to obtain higher-level certification of a child-friendly city in 2023.

A Dong-gu official said, “We will continuously promote child-friendly policies so that children, the treasures and future of the region, can grow up healthily,” and added, “We will make efforts in various fields to create an environment where children can dream of a hopeful and happy future.”

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