On April 26th, at the Second Russia UNICEF Conference “Child Friendly Cities—A Global UNICEF Initiative,” Petrozavodsk and Volgograd, two of the cities where IREX implements the USAID-funded Youth Development Competencies Program (YDCP), were highlighted as Child Friendly Cities because of their active youth programming and policy. Child Friendly Cities are cities in which children have an influence on policy and programs that affect them, and all children regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, income or disability are equal citizens, among other criteria.
Because of YDCP’s multifaceted approach and models, the program is helping different Russian cities become Child Friendly Cities in different ways. For example, in Petrozavodsk thanks to the YDCP Children’s Legal Chamber, youth are informing their peers of their rights as well as working with the government to develop youth policy and instigate change.
At the conference, Larisa Podsadnik, the deputy mayor of Petrozavodsk, highlighted the Children’s Legal Chamber during her presentation. In Volgograd, YDCP works to bring together children with and without disabilities through the Cameras in the Hands of Kids project. Through the project, young people with and without disabilities work together to create photography exhibits. Larisa Evdokimova, president of the Volgograd Regional Social Organization for Helping Children with Disabilities, spoke about the city’s work to provide equal opportunity and access to children with disabilities.