UNICEF welcomes Poti city decision to join the Child Friendly City initiative

POTI, Georgia, 11 October, 2022. Poti has pledged to join 3000 cities and local communities in over 40 countries in the Child Friendly City Initiative (CFCI), supported by UNICEF. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed today by the interim Mayor of Poti, Mr. Beka Vacharadze and UNICEF Representative in Georgia, Dr. Ghassan Khalil. The Memorandum outlines specific actions needed for Poti to become part of the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative.  

The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) is a UNICEF-led initiative that supports municipal governments in realizing the rights of children at the local level, using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as its foundation. It is also a network which brings together government and other partners, such as civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, media and, importantly, children themselves who wish to make their cities and communities more child-friendly.

“I congratulate Poti on becoming the fourth city in Georgia – after Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi - to join the Child Friendly Cities Initiative”, says Dr. Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia. “For a child, living in a child-friendly city means being respected and treated fairly, having their needs heard, having access to quality essential social services, living in a safe, secure and clean environment, and having opportunities to enjoy family life, play and leisure. UNICEF stands ready to help the city administration in putting children at the very heart of the city’s agenda”, Khalil added.

The following steps need to be taken by a city to become part of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative: assessing the situation of children in the city; advocacy and awareness-raising of child rights throughout government and society; enacting child-friendly laws and policies and assessing the impact of these on children;  developing a city-wide strategic action plan with clear budget allocation and accountabilities for implementation; ensuring children get their fair share of resources; informing and involving children and youth and respecting their views and experiences; recognizing children and youth as partners and as individual human beings, rights-holders and equal, active citizens; cross-sectoral coordination and strategic partnerships to maximize the impact of child-friendly policies and programmes.

Building a child-friendly city is a continuous process. In the following phase, the Poti city administration will carry out a child rights situation analysis in Poti. Based on the identified needs, a one-year action plan will be drafted. After approval of the plan, Poti will become a CFCI candidate city. Only after the successful implementation of the plan and completion of the CFCI Cycle, Poti will officially be recognized as a Child Friendly City.