Child-Friendly Cities in Portugal

Is your City Child-Friendly?

The Municipal Observatory of the Universidade Católica Poruguesa CESOP-Local for Sustainable Territories, highlights the UNICEF Program "Child-Friendly Cities" as a Good Practice, in the February edition of the Cycle of Seminars Innovation & Local Development 2022, which takes place on February 24, at 3 p.m., with live broadcast via the YouTube channel of Católica-CESOP.

Created in 1996 by UNICEF and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the 'Child-Friendly Cities' program aims to promote the participation of the youngest citizens in the community and in the decision making processes that involve them, by recognizing their voice and ensuring their interests and compliance with their rights, in the design of public policies and territorial management.

Addressing, in an integrated way, the welfare needs of children and their families, promoting the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in articulation with the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals, contributes to the cohesion and sustainability of the territory. The well-being of children is the indicator by excellence of a healthy habitat, of a democratic society and of good governance.

How to make your city child-friendly? UNICEF Portugal explains and challenges the municipalities with the involvement of civil society, academia, public and private entities, to build Child-Friendly Cities in an effective network in the promotion and adoption of a coordinated policy for childhood and adolescence in defense of Children's Rights.

The speakers of the event are high representatives of the active voices in the configuration of the applicability of the programme in Portugal, the Executive Director of UNICEF Portugal, Beatriz Imperatori, the Director of Public Policies for Children and Youth of UNICEF Portugal, Francisca Magano, and the Expert in Evaluation and Monitoring, Strategic and Operational Planning, Founder of LogFrame, Paulo Teixeira.

This IDL will highlight the importance of recognizing children as social actors, based on a policy of defending their rights and competencies, and will address the decisive role of local governments with the involvement of all, in promoting the active and inclusive participation of children, in order to ensure every opportunity for children and youth to express their opinions and contribute to political decision-making in the municipal planning process. What tools do we have at our disposal? How important is monitoring and evaluation in this context?

The Cycle of Seminars Innovation & Local Development of the Observatory of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa for Sustainable Territories, intends to be a space for reflection, knowledge sharing and public debate, about the innovative and distinctive Good Practices of the CESOP-Local Network Partners, in favor of Sustainable Development.