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

Child-Friendly Budget Secured at 98.369 Billion KRW... 22% Increase Compared to Last Year, 164 Related Projects Underway

Priority on Children's 'Right to Protection' and 'Right to Survival', High Proportion in 'Health and Social Services' and 'Educational Environment' Sectors

Gangbuk-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Lee Soon-hee) announced on the 25th that it has published the "2023 Child-Friendly Budget Report," which analyzes whether the district budget has been fairly allocated for children to create a child-friendly city.

The Child-Friendly Budget Report analyzes the fairness and appropriateness of project budget allocation based on the four universal rights of children recognized worldwide ? the right to survival, the right to protection, the right to development, and the right to participation ? as well as six child-friendly domains: play and leisure, participation and citizenship, safety and protection, health and social services, educational environment, and home environment.

This year, the district secured 98.369 billion KRW (11%) from the main budget of 878.4483 billion KRW, marking a 22% increase compared to last year’s child-friendly budget. The number of child-friendly projects increased by 7 from 157 last year to 164.

Looking at the child-friendly budget according to the four major rights of children, the right to protection accounted for the highest proportion at 41%. This was followed by the right to survival (33%), the right to development (25%), and the right to participation (0.24%). Notably, the budget for the right to development increased by 40%, and the budget for the right to protection rose by 25% compared to last year.

In terms of the number of projects, the right to development had the most with 76 projects, followed by the right to survival (45 projects), the right to protection (30 projects), and the right to participation (13 projects).

Additionally, by the six child-friendly domains, the budget for health and social services (77%) was the highest, followed by educational environment (11%), play and leisure (4%), safety and protection (3%), home environment (2.7%), and participation and citizenship (0.3%). Compared to last year, the budget for play and leisure increased by 74%, educational environment by 26%, and health and social services by 15%.

A district official stated, “This year’s child-friendly budget focused on expanding participation of children from diverse backgrounds and enhancing the participation system for children under 10 years old.” They added, “By 2025, we plan to develop measures for active participation of out-of-school youth and children from multicultural families in district administration, establish a new child rights monitoring group, and implement new projects.” The 2023 Child-Friendly Budget Report is available at the district office’s first-floor civil service center.

Gangbuk-gu received its first UNICEF Child-Friendly City certification in September 2018 and obtained the 'Advanced Stage Certification for Child-Friendly Cities' in June last year.

District Mayor Lee Soon-hee said, “We will focus on discovering necessary projects and securing budgets to promote a balanced and substantial child-friendly city initiative,” and added, “We will continue to spare no support so that all children can enjoy a happy life.”

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