A consultation was organised here on Wednesday by Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), Government of Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with UNICEF-Madhya Pradesh Office on ‘Safe city for children’ initiative in Bhopal city.
This was debriefing consultation which was part of the process documentation during the last three years, in coordination with other relevant departments. In the meet experiences and learning from UNICEF’s safe city for children initiative with NGOs Aarambh, Muskan, Eka and State Government for last three years was shared and recommendation for scaling up were presented.
Presiding over the consultation, Additional Chief Secretary, Home KK Singh said that State is committed for safety and protection of children; He appreciated that multiple stakeholders were present at the meet. Jaishri Kiyawat, Commissioner Women and Child Development, (Women empowerment) said that State is planning to have safe city initiative in six cities namely Gwalior, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Indore, Burhanpur, and Chhatarpur.
Michael Juma, Chief, UNICEF, Madhya Pradesh said that ‘Vulnerable children in cities who live in informal urban settlements face increased inequities, discrimination, and marginalization and suffer violations of their basic human rights. Most of these children become vulnerable to teenage pregnancy, child marriages, child labour, crime and street violence. They also lack safe spaces to play. Urban vulnerabilities and disparities make children extremely vulnerable. And such, it is critical to put children first in Urban World. Rights of children in urban areas are not realized equally. Poverty, inadequate living conditions, malnutrition, access to safe drinking water, sanitation barriers to education, and access to health services for all are some of the barriers which impact children.
Government can to take up mapping, and Bhopal Municipal Corporation, has critical role addressing the challenge, said Malay Shrivastava Principal Secretary Transport, Government of Madhya Pradesh.