A four-member Sharjah delegation led by the Sharjah Baby Friendly Office (SBFO) has participated in the second Child and Youth Advisory Board Meeting, organized last week by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Madrid.
The Child and Youth Advisory Board was established to ensure that the children and young people from UNICEF Child Friendly Cities are given a voice before, during and after the first international Child Friendly Cities Summit, to be held in Cologne, Germany in October 2019.
Two youth representatives from Sharjah, Mayed Al Mur and Shamsa Al Naqbi, along with SBFO representatives, Dr. Hessa Khalfan Al Ghazal, Executive Director of SBFO, and Samya Al Mandoos, Head of Marketing and Events at SBFO, formed the delegation that represented Sharjah at this international gathering dedicated to children and youth.
The Sharjah delegation shared ideas and suggestion to define the format, agenda and outcomes of the Summit along with 12 other children and youth representatives from around the world, including Belarus, Belize, Finland, Germany, Guinea, Italy, South Korea, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Dr. Hessa Khalfan Al Ghazal, Executive Director of SBFO, said: “We are proud to be part of the Child and Youth Advisory Board. It has afforded our children and youth the opportunity to voice their opinions through their peer representatives. This is in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, that puts children’s rights as one of the key pillars of the emirate’s development strategy.”
Sharjah was named a Child Friendly City by UNICEF in May 2018 in recognition of its outstanding efforts and accomplishments in the protection and promotion of children’s rights. It was the first city in the Middle East to receive the prestigious title, and the first in the world to receive the title after successfully meeting the new international requirements and criteria launched by UNICEF’s global Child Friendly Cities initiative in May last year, to ensure the fulfilment of children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Continuing its drive to elevate and protect the wellbeing of children in the emirate, SBFO has put in place a 2019-2021 executive action plan with a 5-goal focus for children and youth: That they are valued, respected and treated equally within their communities and by local authorities; they have their voice, needs and priorities heard and taken into account in public laws, policies, and decisions that affect them; they have access to basic essential services; they live in a safe, secure and clean environment; they have opportunities to enjoy family life, play and leisure.