Children, Youth and Environments 15(2), 2005 Integrating Children’s Rights into Municipal Action: A Review of Progress and Lessons Learned Sheridan Bartlett Children’s Environment’s Research Group The Graduate Center, City University of New York Citation: Bartlett, Sheridan. (2005). “Integrating Children’s Rights into Municipal Action: A Review of Progress and Lessons Learned.” Children, Youth and Environments 15(2):18-40. Comment on This Article Abstract This paper reviews case studies and examples of activities undertaken by local governments and their partners on behalf of children and young people. These examples are drawn primarily from the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Secretariat (CFCS) database. The activities considered include not only the implementation of initiatives for children, but the level of attention to children and youth in such routine local government procedures as planning, regulatory processes, budgeting, data collection and capacity building. The review concludes that there has been significant innovation and commitment to making cities better places for children on the part of many local governments, especially in such areas as child and youth participation. However, these examples also suggest that there is generally more interest in showcase projects than in broader changes in awareness and inclusion; more interest in the development of projects than in the nuts and bolts of sustaining them; and very little attention to monitoring and evaluation, or to child impact assessment. Keywords: Children, youth, urban, local government, Child Friendly Cities This paper was initially commissioned by Save the Children Sweden.© 2005 Children, Youth and Environments Integrating Children’s Rights into Municipal Action… 19 Introduction This review looks at a range of activities undertaken by local governments and their partners to make the concerns of children and youth an integral part of policy and practice.1 It draws primarily on a database compiled by UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Secretariat (CFCS), but also on links from this database, on material collected by Save the Children Sweden, and on various documents and accounts that are not part of the CFC database, but would be at home there.2 It can by no means, however, be considered a comprehensive review. Many positive examples remain undocumented, and much of what is documented undoubtedly remains uncollected by international agencies. What we have here is a relatively small body of material. However, it can be considered a reasonable overview of the kinds of efforts being made by municipalities worldwide that have chosen to give attention to the issue of children’s rights—both in areas that have received quite good attention, and those where much remains much to be learned. In reading over the interesting and often impressive innovations that have been made in various places, it is easy to begin to assume that attention to young people on the part of local governments is a flourishing phenomenon. But the fact is that these promising advances are more the exception than the rule. It is far more likely that children, if they are considered at all, are seen only as the recipients of particular targeted services in such areas as education, health and social protection—not as citizens with a range of requirements which need to be considered in all phases and sectors of local planning and action. Most often, the “trickle-down” effect is assumed to be sufficient for children’s needs; that is to say, if communities at large are considered to benefit from some effort, then it is often taken for granted that children, too, will benefit. For instance, in the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) website, cited on the CFCS database, only one reference to children can be found—a link that refers the reader back again to UNICEF. Yet this same IULA website has a substantial and impressive database on the issues around women and local governance. Another interesting example is a 48-page document entitled “Planning for London’s Growth,” produced by the Greater London Authority in 2002. A word search of this document produces only two references to children, both of them pointing out that many London children speak English as a second language. Although London has an impressive range of services for children, and has prepared a notable Children and Young...