In this way, the municipality is taking steps towards concrete improvements for children and young people by translating children's rights into child-friendly policies. Saba is one of the seven municipalities participating in the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI).
Child-friendly policy
By joining this international initiative, the municipality is fully committed to being and remaining a child-friendly municipality. With this initiative, UNICEF offers municipalities tools to implement children's rights in policy and practice.
“Saba is incredibly proud to be a part of this initiative as we remain committed to providing our children with an environment in which they can grow,” said Commissioner Heyliger. “We recognize the impacts our decisions can have on future generations, and look forward to working alongside UNICEF as we place more focus on the needs of our children.”
The second cohort of municipalities
The collaboration was confirmed by signing the agreement at the UNICEF the Netherlands office in The Hague. Saba is therefore officially part of the second cohort of municipalities in the Netherlands to join the CFCI program. In addition to Commissioner Eviton Heyliger and Suzanne Laszlo, director of UNICEF the Netherlands, the councilors of the municipalities of Diemen, Hellendoorn and Eemsdelta were also present. These municipalities are, like Saba, part of the second cohort of municipalities participating in the Child Friendly Cities Initiative.
“Now that these four municipalities have also said yes, they can be the good news for children in a world with many concerns and major issues,” says Suzanne Laszlo, director of UNICEF the Netherlands. “The municipalities of The Hague, Gooise Meren, and Sint Eustatius took this step last year. The Child Friendly Checklist gave them insight into what is going well and what could be improved regarding the rights and opportunities of children. The four new municipalities will now also start working on this. We wholeheartedly support them, because municipal policy is essential for the development and well-being of children.”
Child Friendly Checklist
The Child Friendly Checklist was developed as a tool within the CFCI program. This allows municipalities to assess how child-friendly they are. As a 'candidate municipality', Saba will set goals for the coming years based on this checklist. Together with local partners, children, and young people, discussions will take place on which parts are the most important for the municipality.
Concrete actions will then be taken to achieve these goals, to soon be able to use the international title of 'Child-friendly City', just like thousands of other municipalities worldwide.
