The Danish Committee for UNICEF will pilot the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) in Denmark from 2020 to 2022. The overall aim is to support Danish municipalities in becoming better at realizing the rights of all children. The initiative will help put children at the centre of decision making and will rethink the way municipalities organize themselves to include a child perspective across their work.

The municipalities in Denmark play an essential role in the implementation of child rights and the day-to-day contact with children and their families. Still, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child continues to have concerns about the municipalities’ ability to ensure child rights in reality, for instance related to their capacity to detect child abuse, decide on the need for alternative care and ensure child participation.

Starting in 2019, the Danish Committee for UNICEF will work with 2–4 municipalities in a pilot project to bring the CFCI to Denmark. The first part will be a learning phase with the municipalities, with the aim of modifying the international CFCI framework to make it relevant to the Danish context.

The pilot with the first recognized municipality was officially launched on 16 September 2020.

We are proud to join and be part of the international movement of Child-Friendly Cities.