The Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia, together with UNICEF Murcia Committee, has organized the 1st Information Day on Child Friendly Cities for municipal technicians and political leaders of the local administration with the aim of sharing the process of implementation of the CAI Program in the Region of Murcia, publicizing the bases of the CAI recognition Seal, showing the experience of the municipalities that are already working on it in Murcia and the projects of other parts of Spain.
“We want all the municipalities in the Region to be Child Friendly Cities, because in a town where a child can live happily, everyone can live happily,” as the Federation's president, Joaquín Hernández, emphasized during the opening of this event. The president was accompanied by the president of UNICEF Murcia Committee, Amparo Marzal, and the Director General of Family and Social Policies, Miriam Pérez.
Hernández has thus shown once again his commitment to UNICEF by promoting and leading from the FMRM the effort to get all the towns and cities of the Region to join this “beautiful and enriching project, which I have had the satisfaction of experiencing firsthand as mayor of Lorquí, one of the four municipalities in the Region that received the recognition last year along with Cieza, Murcia, San Javier”.
Following the welcome address, Silvia Casanova, coordinator of the Child Friendly Cities Program, explained the objectives of this initiative, which began more than 15 years ago, and outlined the process that municipalities interested in obtaining the Seal must follow. The case of the Principality of Asturias, one of the regions with the most extensive implementation of the Program, was then presented by Carlos Becedóniz Vázquez, coordinator of the Observatory for Children and Adolescents of Asturias. Finally, the four municipalities that received the Child Friendly Cities Seal last year shared their experiences in the recognition process.
The Child Friendly Cities Programme, led by UNICEF Spanish Committee since 2002 in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the University Institute of Needs and Rights of Children and Adolescents (IUNDIA), seeks to contribute to improving the living conditions of children and adolescents through the promotion and implementation of municipal policies that guarantee their integral development with a rights-based approach.
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