Gwanak-gu Publishes '2023 Child-Friendly Budget Book'

Child-Friendly Budget Increased by Approximately 10 Billion KRW Compared to Last Year to 189.7 Billion KRW, Accounting for 19.8% of the Main Budget

A Total of 196 Projects Including the Construction of Gwanak Culture and Welfare Town and Parental Allowance Support to Be Implemented

Priority Given to Children’s ‘Right to Development’ and ‘Right to Survival,’ with High Proportions in ‘Educational Environment’ and ‘Health and Social Services’ Sectors

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) has published the ‘2023 Child-Friendly Budget Book’ to actively develop child-friendly projects and create a high-quality child-friendly city.

The ‘Child-Friendly Budget Book’ analyzes the fairness and appropriateness of budget allocation for projects directly or indirectly related to children based on the four universal rights of children (▲Right to Survival ▲Right to Protection ▲Right to Development ▲Right to Participation) and six areas of child-friendliness (▲Play and Leisure ▲Participation and Citizenship ▲Safety and Protection ▲Health and Social Services ▲Educational Environment ▲Home Environment).

This year, the district secured a child-friendly budget of 189.7 billion KRW (19.8% of the general account), an increase of approximately 10 billion KRW compared to the previous year’s main budget. It is implementing a total of 196 projects including the construction of Gwanak Culture and Welfare Town, cultural city development projects, renovation of aging facilities in children’s parks, and improvement of pedestrian environments around schools.

First, examining the child-friendly budget according to the four major rights of children, the right to development accounted for the highest proportion at 57.1% of the total budget, followed by the right to survival (37.8%), the right to protection (5%), and the right to participation (0.1%).

In particular, the budget for the ‘right to survival’ increased the most (14.1%) from 63 billion KRW last year to 71.9 billion KRW this year, with new projects such as parental allowance support and first meeting use voucher support added.

Among the six areas of child-friendliness, the educational environment sector, including support for daycare centers and childcare facilities, accounted for the highest proportion at 47.9%, followed by health and social services (36.1%), play and leisure (8.8%), safety and protection (4.9%), home environment (2.2%), and participation and citizenship (0.1%).

According to the impact on children’s beneficiaries, ‘direct impact projects’ that directly affect children consist of 137 projects with a budget of 168.7 billion KRW, accounting for a large share (88.9%) of the total child-friendly budget, which is significantly higher than ‘indirect impact projects.’

Additionally, the budget for supporting vulnerable children such as multicultural families, children with disabilities, low-income families, single-parent families, and out-of-school youth amounts to approximately 27 billion KRW, accounting for 14.2% of the total budget.

This is a significant increase compared to 9.9 billion KRW last year, demonstrating the district’s efforts and commitment to advancing the rights of all children.

The district was certified as a child-friendly city by UNICEF in 2020 and is vigorously moving forward with the goal of obtaining a higher-level certification in 2024 by establishing the ‘Second Four-Year Child-Friendly City Plan (2023?2026)’ this year.

Mayor Park Junhee stated, “To promote a balanced and substantial child-friendly city project, we will focus on discovering projects and securing budgets in areas with relatively low allocation ratios. We will continue to spare no support to create a Gwanak where all children can enjoy a happy life.”

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