FMRM signs an agreement with UNICEF to promote the Child-Friendly Cities Program in all municipalities
The Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia, represented by its president Joaquín Hernández, and the UNICEF Spanish Committee, represented by its president in Murcia, Amparo Marzal, have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly defend the rights of children.
The objective of this agreement is to work on promoting initiatives focused on children, with the aim of recognising them as full citizens, as is evident from the commitment made through the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Specifically, the FMRM has committed to supporting and disseminating the programmes that UNICEF offers for the promotion of the rights of children and adolescents among the corporations of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.
Both entities will collaborate to develop actions that contribute to the implementation and dissemination of public policies within the framework of children's rights. Among the most notable programs is Child-Friendly Cities, which aims to achieve an improvement in the well-being of the child population: applying and respecting the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the municipal level, considering local public policy as fundamental for the realization of children's rights, and promoting the incorporation of their well-being in the political agenda and the establishment of child participation mechanisms at the municipal level.
The purpose of this agreement also includes the promotion of the Child-Friendly Cities programme guidelines among the municipalities of the Region. Currently, there are eleven cities recognised as Child-Friendly Cities: Murcia, Lorquí, San Javier and Cieza, in the 2016 call; Alcantarilla, Bullas, Calasparra, Cartagena, Campos del Río and San Pedro del Pinatar, named in the recent 2018 edition; and Torre Pacheco, which has just renewed its recognition for four more years. All these municipalities are part of the network of Child-Friendly Cities of the Region of Murcia, as an initiative promoted by UNICEF Murcia Committee and the FMRM with the support of the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities. In this regard, several proposals have been developed in recent years, such as meetings, technical conferences and meetings of experts in municipal policy with regard to children.
The FMRM has expressed its willingness to work together with UNICEF Spanish Committee on various actions aimed at children and adolescents in order to guarantee their rights, including the right to participation, through actions that can create the appropriate channels for their ideas and proposals to help design a better Murcian society for everyone, especially for themselves.
The FMRM and UNICEF Murcia Committee have committed to working together, exchanging information and studies to raise awareness and achieve compliance with children's rights in the municipalities of the Region, as well as to promote networking and the incorporation of municipalities and other actors into this initiative in favour of children.
