Integrating Children’s Rights into Municipal Action

A Review of Progress and Lessons Learned

Abstract

This paper reviews case studies and examples of activities undertaken by local governments and their partners on behalf of children and young people. These examples are drawn primarily from the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Secretariat (CFCS) database. The activities considered include not only the implementation of initiatives for children, but the level of attention to children and youth in such routine local government procedures as planning, regulatory processes, budgeting, data collection and capacity building. The review concludes that there has been significant innovation and commitment to making cities better places for children on the part of many local governments, especially in such areas as child and youth participation. However, these examples also suggest that there is generally more interest in showcase projects than in broader changes in awareness and inclusion; more interest in the development of projects than in the nuts and bolts of sustaining them; and very little attention to monitoring and evaluation, or to child impact assessment.