Listening to the Reasonable Voices of Children... 'Gumi-si Child Participation Committee' Policy Proposal Workshop Held

Expectations for Ensuring Children's Right to Participation and Enhancing Policy Effectiveness

On the 13th, the city of Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, held a policy proposal workshop for the 5th Gumi City Child Participation Committee at the Gumi Life Culture Center.

'5th Gumi City Child Participation Committee' Policy Proposal Workshop.

The committee is an advisory body that presents and consults on children's opinions in the process of establishing and implementing child-related policies. It was formed in June last year through an open recruitment process and consists of 44 children aged 9 to under 18 residing in Gumi.

During the workshop, the children actively discussed issues and improvements as direct stakeholders in the policies.

Main topics included: ▲"May Festival Created by Us: 2025 Gumi Children's Festival (Play)" ▲"The Earth Is Getting Hotter, Protect Us! (Safety)" ▲"Let's Play with Friends! Every Corner of Gumi! (Leisure)", with each group presenting policy proposals and engaging in discussions.

Park Yongja, Head of the Child Care Division, said, "It was a meaningful opportunity to directly hear the opinions of children, who are the actual policy consumers. We will actively coordinate with relevant departments to ensure that the various policies proposed by the child participation committee are reflected in city administration, making Gumi a better place for children and for all of us."

Since the formation of the 1st Child Participation Committee in July 2017, the city is currently operating the 5th committee, supporting a variety of activities such as regular meetings, field visits to major institutions, summer camps, lively debates, and children's rights campaigns. Policies proposed by children are actively reflected after review by relevant departments.