📣On October 25, the International Conference “Create your place to grow” was held
🎯Leading experts, policy makers and advocates from Europe who are dedicated to children and who have many years of experience in local planning for children together with local authorities, academics, civil society organizations, youth and children from the country were the main speakers at the International Conference.
➖Stavrula (Lina) Antara from UNICEF Greece and Katerina Samali from Municipality of Katerini from Greece, presented UNICEF’s child-friendly cities initiative in Greece and the action plan for municipalities dedicated to children. They emphasised that the commitment of the municipalities to the implementation of this initiative is key and that the decision-making at the local level should be carried out through the active participation of the children together with the local authorities.
➖Julia Vogerbauer from UNICEF Austria and Elisabeth Wenzl, M.Sc. from Familie & Beruf Management GmbH, Vienna, gave an insight into Austrian family nad child-friendly communities. They emphasized that the main goal is to make decisions at the local level according to the convention on children’s rights, and as a good practice they indicated the city of Graz, where a children’s parliament has been established, where children have the opportunity to propose activities and iniciatives that would actually be of great benefit to children and their parents.
➖Heike Tafelmaier, Coordinator for the Child-Friendly Communities Initiative in City of Krefeld, Germany, presented the goals and challenges in starting the implementation of the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative, stressing the importance of striking a balance between children and local government administration, setting up a framework and structure for the support of the administration has been set up, which will prioritize the needs of children and their rights and implement projects and activities with a focus on children.
🤝The conference was a platform to inspire the municipalities in their commitment to create local communities where children will live healthy, safe, happy and supported.
✨The event represented a unique and extraordinary opportunity to hear and learn from the experiences and practices of leading local governments from the European Union that are dedicated to children, and at the same time to share the visions, challenges and opportunities of the municipalities of the country in the direction of promotion, realization and protection of children’s rights.
👧🧒The youth and children had a leading role at this International Conference, and appeared as moderators, presenters and speakers at the event, and all present youth and children together with the representatives of the local authorities from Kisela Voda, Vinica, Gostivar, Veles and Debar, the schools and the civil sector, jointly participated in a practical workshop for the creation of their vision “a municipality that is a friend of children”.
📢The messages that were conveyed at the 🟠 International conference “Create your place to grow”:
➖Patricia DiGiovanni pointed out that UNICEF has long had a Child-Friendly Cities program where every child grows up safely, has access to basic services – clean air and water, an environment where they can play and learn and where their voices are heard and matter in the community.
➖Dragi Zmijanac, president of the First Children’s Embassy in the world “Megjashi”, which has existed for 31 years, stated that Macedonia is one of the few countries where children twice submitted a report prepared by themselves on the state of children’s rights and defended it before the Committee on the rights of the child in Geneva – once in person, and the second time online during the pandemic.
➖ Marie-Madeleine Kanelopoulou, head of department at the EU Delegation, pointed out that the topic of children’s rights is included in the Treaty on European Union and is high on the EU’s agenda.
➖Kristina Vasileska, director of the Centre for Family and Childcare KMOP Skopje, which organized the conference, emphasized that this initiative for the promotion of the rights and protection of children is proof of the collective belief in a future in which children and young people will be heard and valued in environments that are created precisely for their well-being.
