SUMMARY: This paper describes the features that make a city "child friendly", and the legal, institutional, budgetary and planning measures needed to underpin them. It explains how the concept of child friendly cities developed, and its key role in ensuring the implementation of the Convention on the
I. INTRODUCTIONIN AN INCLUSIVE, transparent, responsive system of governance, all citizens are given due consideration, regardless of age, ethnic origin, income, gender or ability. The concept of "child friendly cities" has been developed to ensure that city governments consistently make decisions in the best interests of children, and that cities are places where children's rights to a healthy, caring, protective, educative, stimulating, nondiscriminating, inclusive, culturally rich environment are addressed.A child friendly city has a system of governance committed to the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It falls on city governments to translate the commitments made at the national level by states ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child into action at the city level -and thus also to form a key component of national plans of action for children. It has particular relevance to the follow-up to the UN Special Session on Children (New York, 8-10 May 2002), whose document, A World Fit for Children, explicitly commits member nations to develop child friendly communities and cities, and to involve mayors and municipal authorities as primary partners in achieving the new goals set for children. Children are recognized as citizens who have a right to express their opinions and have their views given due consideration. This requires most cities to make institutional, legal and budgetary reforms and to develop a strategy to transform the living environments of children at the family, neighbourhood and city levels.The concept of a child friendly city is not based on an ideal end state or a standard model. It is a framework to assist any city to become more child friendly in all aspects of its environment, governance and services. UNICEF set up the Child Friendly Cities Secretariat at its Innocenti