It Starts with Children - Local Actions for Inclusive Urban Futures

Sarah Sabry

Moderator

November 6, 2024 | 15:00 - 16:30

Multipurpose room 16

Save the Children International

United Kingdom

English

Reference:

NE 16-05

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

The Global Alliance – Cities4Children works to ensure that urban areas are better for children and young people. We facilitate collaboration between our 27 member organisations for greater collective impact, influence, joint advocacy and communications, multilevel collaboration for improved local service provision and participatory governance. On our website www.cities4children.org where you will find information about our member organisations, research series, a knowledge hub, a rich blog and recordings of our webinars.
At this WUF 12, we will launch the next pivotal milestone of Cities4Children towards further localizing the impact for children in cities. In this event, we will kick off efforts to collaborate with local and regional governments to create cities that prioritize the well-being of children and young people. This joint event is a collaboration between city networks such as UCLG, and child focused agencies such as UNICEF and Save the Children as well as many other Cities4Children members. In this event, we seek to convene networks of cities, local and regional governments to discuss policy frameworks and programmatic interventions focused on the needs and rights of children in urban environments. Currently, many government networks lack a specific focus on children and young people living in their cities. This is a gap we aim to bridge.

Sustainable urban development also requires adequate financing, and locally-led solutions often prove to be the most cost-effective. Investing in child-friendly urban development not only enhances the well-being of children but also yields significant financial benefits for communities at large. Therefore, at WUF12, we will emphasize the importance of increasing financing for sustainable urban development with children and young people in mind.

The planned flow of the event is:
-Introduction: Why Cities for Children and the Global Alliance – Cities4Children and the wealth of resources on our website: research, tools, blogs, trainings, webinars, etc.
-Presentation: Why must children be central to the priorities of local and city governments? (Mayor to present)
-An intervention by a child/young activist
-How can we make neighbourhoods and cities better for children and young people? (a presentation of programmatic interventions of the diverse and rich programmes of the members of the alliance)
-What tools and ideas are available for local actions from Cities4Children members
-What are cities4children chapters doing in different countries?
-Open discussion: What do local and regional governments need to advance a child friendly city agenda?
-Wrap up with concrete action points.

Target audience:
-Local and regional government representatives
-Networks of local and city officials, such as members of C40, ICLEI, UCLG, etc.
-Donors interested in localizing SDGs for children in urban contexts.

Objectives

The main objectives of this session are:
to convene local and regional government representatives and key networks of local and city governments, share with them ideas, tools and programmes that are relevant to make their cities and neighbourhoods better for children and youth
to better understand the support local and city governments seek to advance a child friendly city agenda. This will inform the planning of the alliance.
To promote a paradigm shift: that cities and neighbourhoods must plan for the needs of children and must establish mechanisms for the participation of children, youth, and their caregivers in urban governance.
To expose local governments to a wide range of possibilities, programmes and tools to advance the agenda of inclusive, safe, resilient cities for children and young people. These come from the wealth of experience of Cities4Children members
To facilitate a dialogue between member organisations of cities4children and local governments
To put children centre stage in the localisation and local and regional governments agendas
To advocate for policy and program frameworks promoting safe, sustainable, and inclusive cities for children.
Inspire attendees with pilot projects/examples from around the world to foster future commitments.
Organisations contributing to the event: Save the Children, UNICEF, UCLG, Cities Alliance, World Vision, ISOCARP, SDI, Habitat for Humanity, FIA Foundation, Van Leer Foundation, BYCS.