Child-Friendly City

A “Child-Friendly City” is a city, town, community, or any system of local governance committed to fulfilling child rights as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It aims to become a place where children “are safe and protected from exploitation, violence, and abuse; have a good start in life and grow up healthily and cared-for; have access to essential services; experience quality, inclusive and participatory education and skill development; express their opinions and influence decisions that affect them; participate in family, cultural, city/community and social life; live in a clean, unpolluted and safe environment with access to green spaces; meet friends and have places to play and enjoy themselves; and have a fair chance at life regard-less of their ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or ability.” By 2020, a total of 45 countries around the world were working to build child-friendly cities. Since 2015 Chinese cities, including Changsha, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, have also been making efforts to build child-friendly cities.