Cardiff named UK’s first ever UNICEF child friendly city

It follows five years of work by Cardiff Council and its partners. Credit: PA

Cardiff is the first in the UK to be named a child friendly city, UNICEF UK has announced.

The globally recognised award celebrates cities where children’s rights are embedded into its policies and services.

UNICEF said Cardiff was given the international status in recognition of the steps the council and its partners have taken over the past five years to advance the human rights of children and young people across the city.

Cardiff Council and its partners joined the UK Committee for UNICEF’s ChildFriendly Cities and Communities programme in 2017 as part of a pioneering cohort.

Since then, it has been working with the city’s children and young people, prioritising six key areas: cooperation and Leadership, communication, culture, healthy, family and Belonging and Education and Learning.

Working in partnership with organisations across the city, a significant number of projects,initiatives and actions have been undertaken to ensure that children and young people are able to claim their rights, thrive and reach their potential, whilst addressing the barriers which may limit their life chances. 

Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas said: “Since the launch of Cardiff’s Child FriendlyStrategy, the city has embarked on a journey of transformation with the aim that all children, including the most vulnerable, feel safe, heard, nurtured and able to thrive, to become a place where their rights are respected by all.

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“Through the shared ambition of other public services, extensive work has been carried out to ensure that Cardiff is a place where all children and young people, regardless of belief, ethnicity, background or wealth are safe, healthy, happy and able to share in the city’s success with equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.

“The foundation of this change has been the development of a rights respecting culture across the council and city-wide partners to ensure our staff are knowledgeable and confident regarding rights and their practice.

"This has been supported by policy which has empowered children and young people to be meaningfully involved in decisions that matter to them, enabling services to meet their needs and adults to be more accountable for the way children and young people’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.”

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