Wenzhou city in East China's Zhejiang province passed legislation to work towards becoming a child-friendly city as the fifth session of the 14th Wenzhou people's congress adopted the regulations on promoting the initiative on Jan 23.
This marks the first local regulation in the province focusing on Child-Friendly Cities Initiative launched by the United Nations in 1996 as a policy innovation to create better societies to promote positive child development on a global scale. A few cities in China have responded to the call and acted to construct CFCs with varying characteristics.
By incorporating child-friendly concepts into urban planning, construction, and governance, the city aims to balance child-friendliness and urban beauty.
In 2021, Wenzhou was designated as one of the first pilot cities in China for building child-friendly cities. In June last year, the standing committee of Wenzhou people's congress, in collaboration with the Wenzhou Women's Federation, invited 11 children to offer their comment on the draft regulations.
The regulations stipulate that in the future, whenever laws, policies, or major projects are formulated, there must also be an assessment of their impact on children.
The document also outlines support and care for disadvantaged children, aiming to ensure that migrant children in their residential areas have access to fair, convenient, and high-quality basic public services. By enhancing the public welfare system for children, the goal is to make child-friendly initiatives truly inclusive and accessible.
