Sharjah bags child-friendly city status from Unicef
sharjah — After being recognised as a baby friendly city in 2015, Sharjah has expanded the framework to cover a wider age group with its bid to become a child-friendly city.
The announcement was made on Monday by the Sharjah Child Friendly Office (SCFO) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) .
Sharjah has achieved the BabyFriendly City hallmark by protecting mothers and new-born babies; with the Child-Friendly City framework, everyone will be covered from birth to 18 years old.
According to Unicef, a child friendly city “guarantees the right of every young citizen to influence decisions and express their opinions about their city and participate in family, community and social life.”
A city vying for a CFC title has to ensure that children and young adults will receive basic services such as healthcare, education and shelter, and that they are provided with safe drinking water and have access to proper sanitation.
Dr Hessa Al Ghazal, executive
Around 80% of the population in Sharjah are expats. It is very important that these expat children have equal access to participation.” Vanessa Sedletzki, international child rights expert
director of the Sharjah Baby Friendly Office (SBFO), said the Sharjah CFC project team seeks to drive the emirate forward as a strong CFC candidate.
“Sharjah’s ongoing efforts to provide a conducive environment for children and young adults to thrive, have resulted in the signing of an MoU with Unicef, to conduct a joint study on the status of children in Sharjah. We have conducted over 70 field visits and workshops for 23 departments and institutions from July 2016 to January 2017,” said Dr Al Ghazal.
Vanessa Sedletzki, an international child rights expert, told Khaleej Times: “There are some areas that need to be accelerated and few challenges to be addressed to further advance child participation. A children’s council has been in place in Sharjah for a long time but we want to see these children as actors who actually set the agenda and not just being asked questions by adults.” Another challenge is the difference between nationals and expat children. Young nationals can communicate better because they have access to skills and opportunities that are not available to other young expats, Sedletzki said.“I understand around 80 per cent of the population are expats. Therefore, it is very important that these expat children should be represented and have equal access to participation.”
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