City of Vantaa employees and decision-makers to be inducted in children’s rights

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Democracy and InclusionResidents

"Children's rights oblige all the city’s employees and decision-makers", says Katri Kalske, deputy mayor of education and learning.

Pupils work together on a puzzle.

Photo: City of Vantaa /Sercan Alkan

The City of Vantaa bolsters realization of children’s rights in the city's activities and decision-making. Vantaa has decided that all city employees and trustees take a free-of-charge online training course on children's rights in the course of year 2023. The City of Vantaa is committed to promoting child-friendliness.

“An important step in this work is to ensure that all our employees and decision-makers know children's rights,” states Katri Kalske, deputy mayor of education and learning.

“Children's rights legally oblige all of us city employees and decision-makers. Taking the training course will help us identify situations where we must ensure realization of children’s rights. Thanks to the course, we will be able to function better than when applying our earlier practices,” Kalske adds.

Training in children's rights constitutes part of the national training program, published on February 16. For the first time ever, the government is launching a comprehensive children's rights training package to support professionals in their everyday work. The training package is part of implementing the national child strategy. The child strategy aims at a society that respects children's rights.

“The training package was tailored to all professionals affecting children's everyday lives. When we learn more, we will together turn Finland into Finland for all children,” says Johanna Laisaari, secretary general of the national child strategy.

Vantaa participates in Unicef’s Child Friendly Cities work, which means that the city is committed to developing realization of children's rights and child-friendliness in all the city's activities. This work requires increasing adults’ understanding of children and young people's rights in municipal everyday life and decision-making.

Vantaa was accepted to the Child Friendly Cities model in 2021. This year will show whether Unicef will grant Vantaa the Child Friendly Cities recognition. A municipality that has developed realization of children's rights and is committed to continuing this development in the future as well may be granted the recognition.

Read more about Vantaa’s Child Friendly Cities work online at: https://www.vantaa.fi/en/city-and-decision-making/vastuullisuus/child-friendly-city-initiative

Keywords

ChildrenInclusionChild-friendliness