Gwanak-gu, Establishment and Promotion of 2021 Child-Friendly City Plan

This Year, 17.4 Billion KRW Project Budget Invested, 59 Projects Promoted Across 7 Policy Tasks in 6 Areas

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) has established the ‘2021 Child-Friendly City Promotion Plan’ to successfully settle the child-friendly city initiative and guarantee the four major rights of children.

The district, with the core vision of ‘Gwanak where children are happy and respected,’ will promote a total of 59 projects, an increase of 4 projects compared to the previous year, based on six child-friendly areas?play and leisure, participation and civic consciousness, safety and protection, health and social services, educational environment, and living environment?and seven policy tasks.

The seven policy tasks are: Gwanak where children enjoy themselves; Gwanak where children participate together; Gwanak where children are safely protected; Gwanak where children grow properly; Gwanak where children’s dreams grow; Gwanak where children live in a pleasant environment; and Gwanak where children take the lead.

This year, the district plans to invest 17.4 billion KRW in project funds, an increase of about 900 million KRW from last year, to promote more systematic and continuous child-friendly policies.

First, following UNICEF’s 10 principles for creating child-friendly cities, the district will operate and activate a Child Rights Monitoring Group to reflect children’s opinions in district administration, produce a child-friendly budget book, and utilize strategic projects for realizing children’s rights through analysis of children’s basic rights and child-friendly areas.

To spread awareness of children’s rights, the district will strengthen children’s rights education for workers in child-related institutions, operate a public-private working council to manage cases of children’s rights violations and establish a human rights protection system, and enhance the operation of a children’s rights advocate (ombudsperson).

In particular, during the first half of the year, the district will operate ‘SOS Child Rights Guardians,’ consisting of one person per neighborhood, totaling 21 members, to carry out child abuse prevention activities and early detection and reporting of suspected child abuse cases.

The district will establish a child abuse reporting system targeting community leaders such as tong/ban chiefs and welfare committee members who are familiar with local conditions, and take measures to prevent child abuse, which has recently become a serious issue.

Additionally, the district plans to promote various projects to realize children’s basic rights, including conducting child impact assessments, promoting children’s rights, holding a children’s rights drawing contest, and organizing open forums in Gwanak-gu.

To ensure the smooth implementation of these projects and the stable settlement of the child-friendly city, the district will thoroughly manage the execution of projects. Progress will be checked quarterly based on performance management indicators for each project, and efficiency will be secured through evaluations by external monitoring agencies.

Meanwhile, the district established a four-year child-friendly city promotion plan in 2019, laid the institutional foundation for promoting the child-friendly city through the revision of the Gwanak-gu Child-Friendly City Ordinance in February last year, and as a result of these efforts, received certification as a child-friendly city from the UNICEF Korea Committee in March last year.

Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “Gwanak where all children are happy will become a city where everyone wants to live,” and added, “We will continue to make every effort to ensure children’s rights, implement child safety measures, and through various methods, help children enjoy a happy life and grow into bright leaders of the future.”