Gwangju City: "A City Where Every Child Is Respected and Safe"

UNICEF Child-Friendly City 'Advanced Certification' Proclamation Ceremony
First Among Metropolitan Cities... Only City Nationwide with District-Level Certification

Gwangju Mayor Kang Kijeong attended the UNICEF Child-Friendly City Higher Certification Proclamation Ceremony held in the large conference room of the city hall on the afternoon of the 31st, performed the birth celebration coexistence card delivery performance, and took a commemorative photo with the attendees. Provided by Gwangju City

Gwangju City is embarking on a new beginning as a leading child-friendly city where every child is respected. On July 31, Gwangju City held the 'UNICEF Child-Friendly City Advanced Certification Proclamation Ceremony' in the main conference hall of City Hall.

The ceremony was organized to celebrate, together with citizens, Gwangju's achievement as the first metropolitan city to obtain the 'advanced certification' as a UNICEF Child-Friendly City, and to widely promote the city's status as a child-friendly city.

The event was attended by Mayor Kang Gijung, Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Lee Jeongseon, Gwangju City Council members Choi Jihyun and Lee Myeongno, Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Younggeun, Gwangju Women and Family Foundation CEO Kim Kyungrae, members of the Child and Youth Friendly City Promotion Committee, ombudspersons, children and youth, and citizens, totaling around 600 participants.

The proclamation ceremony featured a variety of programs, including a congratulatory performance (nanta and choir) by children from the City Hall daycare center, a video presentation on the promotion of the child-friendly city, a reading of the Child Rights Charter, the proclamation of advanced certification and delivery of the certificate and plaque, the 'Magic Tree' certification performance, and an introduction to child-friendly policies.

Notably, the reading of the Child Rights Charter included eight participants representing diversity and inclusion, such as infants, elementary, middle, and high school students, children from multicultural families, and children with developmental disabilities and their parents. They conveyed the significance of children's rights and the responsibilities of adults.

The 'Magic Tree' certification performance visually depicted the future of a city where Gwangju City, the Office of Education, and the Police Agency cooperate to nurture children's rights, by showing black water being purified into clean water, which is then used to water a tree and make flowers bloom.

With this certification, Gwangju became the only city in the country to achieve certification for both the metropolitan city and all five autonomous districts, and it is also significant in that it has completed a cooperative child-friendly city model between metropolitan and district governments.

Since its initial certification in 2019, the city has achieved various results to ensure the practical protection of children's rights. The city separated the children's and youth councils to expand child participation, established the youth council through direct elections for the first time among metropolitan cities, and incorporated 68% of the 69 policy proposals made by these councils into city administration.

Seventeen cases of the child participation budget system were also implemented as actual projects. The city also promoted practical policies such as training child rights instructors, developing child rights education content, the grandchild caregiver program, the 10 a.m. school parent work start initiative, expanding public late-night children's hospitals, and supporting transportation costs through the Gwangju-type G-Pass.

As a result of these achievements, Gwangju was selected as an 'excellent institution' in the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 2023 child policy implementation plan evaluation. This year, the city received the Prime Minister's Commendation for its efforts to address low birth rates and create a child-rearing-friendly environment.

Mayor Kang Gijung stated, "A child-friendly city is one where all children are respected without discrimination and can grow up safely. This advanced certification is not the end, but a new beginning. We will continue to listen to the voices of children so that their rights are naturally realized in everyday life, and we will build 'Child-Friendly City Gwangju' together."