4 June 2008: St. Petersburg becomes "child-friendly"
On June 4, 2008, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Saint-Petersburg City Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was signed in Moscow. The UNICEF Representative for the Russian Federation Mr. Carel de Rooy and Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg Ms. Lyudmila Kostkina sealed the document that aims to strengthen mutual cooperation to benefit children in St.Petersburg. It means that the City of St.Petersburg has formally joined the UNICEF global “Child-Friendly Cities” initiative that allows cities to adjust their priorities to children’s needs and interests, relying, first and foremost, on children’s views and opinion. “St.Petersburg is one of the first Russian cities, with which UNCEF has been cooperating for more than 10 years, since the time UNICEF started operating in Russia. St.Petersburg was one of the first cities to support the implementation of the pilot project focusing on the development of a network of child rights ombudspersons. It was also in this city that the first in Russia youth friendly health service was established and programmes for assistance to HIV-affected children were intensively pursued. We are happy that St.Petersburg intends to further promote child-friendly policies”, Carel de Rooy, UNICEF Representative for the Russian Federation, said during the signing ceremony. In her turn, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg Ms. Lyudmila Kostkina pointed out that her city has been pursuing an active social policy for children. In June 2007, the St.Petersburg Government issued a resolution “On the Implementation of the UNICEF Child-Friendly Cities initiative in St.Petersburg”. Thus, the signing of the Memorandum is a logical continuation of cooperation between St.Petersburg and UNICEF aimed to safeguard the right of children to a healthy and happy childhood. Child Friendly Cities booklet (in Russian)
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