TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Councilor Sally Cook, Ward 7
SUBJECT: title
Councilor Motion - Child Friendly City Resolution
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
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MOTION:
I move that Council adopt Resolution No. 2017-44 for Salem to become a Child Friendly City.
DISCUSSION:
Countries around the world have established criteria for becoming a child-friendly city, based on the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States has not yet established criteria for child friendly cities, which gives cities, such as Salem, more discretion in determining our own criteria and standards for defining itself as a child friendly city.
UNICEF has developed a child-friendly city framework and toolkit to assist local governments in measuring the child friendliness of cities. There is a wealth of best practices to encourage children of all abilities, economic backgrounds, ethnicities and statuses to participate as we explore the role of children in the health of our community, economy, society and the environment. The state of a community’s children is an indicator of the social, environmental and economic health of the community.
There are many organizations in our community actively working to improve child health, mental health, and their growth and development.
As part of the City’s Strategic Plan, we have a vision for Salem to be a safe and livable capital city with a sustainable economy and environment that is open to all with the intent to enrich the lives of its present and future residents.
As the City Council continues to develop the Strategic Plan and its annual Policy Agenda, I hope we can consider the impact to children of our policies, planning, programs and activities. I hope we engage children and youth directly in our work, and work in partnership with services, organizations, businesses, schools and the broader community to achieve the best possible outcomes for Salem’s children.
The child friendly city concept came from a resolution passed at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in 1996, which aimed to make cities livable for all residents, including children.
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Attachments:
Resolution No. 2017-44