Global summit “Child-friendly city”

On October 15-18, the Global summit “Child-friendly city” was held in Cologne. The event, organized by UNICEF Headquarters with the support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, brought together mayors, local authorities, experts and young people from around the world to highlight the relevance of creating a friendly, safe and inclusive urban environment for children and adolescents.

The youth delegates from Belarus were Angelina Kisloshchenkova, a student of the Department of Geography of Brest State A. S. Pushkin University, and Daria Shlapakova, a student of the Department of International Relations of Belarusian State University.

The girls presented their experience of participation in adolescent self-governments. Daria spoke at the plenary meeting to present the results of the meeting of the Global Youth Advisory Council, which was developing a Manifesto for Mayors from children and adolescents. Angelina participated in the awarding ceremony of the towns that won in the category “Child-friendly Local Governance”.

The Belarusian participants presented their experience in implementing the “Child-friendly city” initiative, including the calculation of the child friendly city index. They also spoke about the prospects of transforming the initiative into a platform “Child and Adolescent Friendly town” for the implementation of sustainable development goals, and shared their achievements and challenges in organizing large-scale sporting events, taking into account children's rights.

The Global Summit ended with the signing of the Declaration of Mayors, which reflected the main commitments of local city authorities to the realization of the rights of children and adolescents.

Department of Geography