The Municipality of The Hague officially launched the next phase of the Child-Friendly City program earlier this week. To mark the occasion, Alderman Hilbert Bredemeijer for Education, Youth, Sports, and Services presented a “discussion chart” to the Children’s Neighborhood Council at community center De Mussen in the Schilderswijk.
Three years ago, the process to become a candidate municipality – or member – of Child-Friendly City, an initiative by UNICEF, was also launched there. The presentation of the visual aid marks an important step in a series of actions the municipality has undertaken in recent years to make The Hague more child-friendly.
During the meeting, children aged 9 to 12 engaged in a discussion with each other and with the alderman based on statements related to children’s rights, contributing ideas to the municipality, and improving their own neighborhood. With this, the municipality emphasizes that children have an important voice in decisions that affect them.
Action plan
The visual aid is based on the Municipality of The Hague’s Child-Friendly City action plan and describes how work will be done in the coming years to create a city where children can grow up safely, healthily, and with opportunities. The plan focuses on four priorities: youth participation, mental health, playing & chilling, and the importance of the child in all municipal decisions.
These themes are based on a broad survey among children, young people, parents, and professionals through various participation processes, Kids and Youth City Labs, and an internal analysis within the municipal organization. UNICEF monitored and contributed ideas throughout the entire process.
Over the next two years, the municipality will work on implementing the action points from the plan. This will be followed by an evaluation by UNICEF to determine whether the Municipality of The Hague is recognised as a Child-Friendly City.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The meeting on April 20 aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to a voice, health, safety, and play. With the aforementioned action plan, the municipality aims to strengthen these rights in practice and structurally incorporate them into policymaking.
“With this action plan, we are taking a big step towards a city where all children can grow up safely, healthily, and happily. Their voice plays an important role in this,” says Alderman Bredemeijer. “Children and young people know better than anyone what they need in their neighborhood, at school, and in the city. That is why they have been involved in creating this action plan from the very beginning. That is what a truly child-friendly city means: a place where you feel seen, heard, and taken seriously.”
Children’s opinions make a difference
The presentation of the discussion chart to the Children’s Neighborhood Council aligns with the ambition to actively involve children and show them better how their opinions can really make a difference. The Children’s Neighborhood Council was founded in 2022 by De Mussen and is part of the Peaceful Neighborhood program.
During the meeting, various statements were discussed, such as:
- Schools need to talk to children more often about feelings and stress.
- The municipality must do more to help children when they feel sad or stressed.
In addition, the children shared experiences regarding their own neighborhood and provided ideas to the municipal policymakers present. “We believe it is important that children can contribute their ideas. We know what can be improved in our neighborhood, because we are here every day. We have plenty of ideas, such as how it can become safer and the streets cleaner,” says Nathan from the Children’s Neighborhood Council.
More information
Children, parents, and professionals who want to know more about the Child-Friendly City program, participation opportunities, or activities in the neighborhood can visit: www.denhaag.nl/cf070 or contact: OCW Jeugd – cf070@denhaag.nl