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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i cAppendix C2013 Kathmandu Declaration on Child Friendly Local Governance*
We, participants of the Child Friendly Cities Asia Pacific meeting held in Kathmandu,
Nepal, on 27-29 June 2013 and members of the Child Friendly Asia Pacific Network callupon our governments, private sector, and civil society to assist us in implementing the2013 Kathmandu Declaration on Child Friendly Local Governance.
This declaration provides four key principles through which governments, cities,communities, private sector and civil society can support child friendliness by recognizing
the important role of local governance, through meaningful child and youth participation,by engaging in monitoring of their progress and supporting planning for a sustainable
future for and with communities in a rapidly urbanizing world.
Principle 1. A child friendly city recognizes the importance of Local
Governance
1.1 Recognises the role of local governments to improve opportunities for children todevelop well and become active citizens now and in the future.
1.2 Develops a children’s integrated plan that includes resource allocation and a childspecific budget utilizing strategic multi-sectorial partnerships to leverage resources at alllevels of government and private sector.
1.3 Respects the fundamental importance of children and young people’s vulnerability
and agency when government and communities prepare, [plan] and [respond] to socialand environmental risks including natural disasters.
1.4 Acknowledges the importance of urban progress that is sustainable and invests in thelives of children, young people and their families.
Principle 2. A child friendly city demands meaningful participation of children
and youth
2.1 Acknowledges meaningful participation as the right of all children and therefore*This document has been slightly edited.

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essential that all children, especially the most disadvantaged, at risk, invisible and hard toreach children are included in city consultations and decision-making.
2.2 Recognises that governments are accountable to children and youth and that young
people’s meaningful participation is an essential step towards ensuring an equitable andhumane city for everyone.
2.3 Supports children and youth participation opportunities throughout a child’s life, being
flexible to opportunities according to the child’s interests, individual circumstances andcapacity according to their age and special needs.
2.4 Ensures authentic partnerships with adults who provide meaningful mentoring
opportunities that are empowering for children and support them to take on leadershiproles in their cities.
2.5 Encourages education institutions at all levels to implement child friendly curriculum
programs and to adopt strategies for meaningful participation of children and youth indecision making at all levels of management of the institution.
Principle 3. A child friendly city recognizes and engages in a continuous
monitoring and evaluating its progress
3.1 Ensures the reporting and documentation on issues of child protection, safety, andviolence against children, health, education, environmental health, their standard of living,
and a child’s good start to life.
3.2 Supports the implementation of a rigorous monitoring system that incorporates datacollection and verification and provides regular opportunities to report on [the] cities’
progress, the challenges they are addressing and [the] shortcomings.
3.3 Requests that government, child-led and community-led data gathering and analysis
practices are inclusive and representational of the diversity of any community at the cityand neighborhood levels and do not rely on urban or rural averages.
3.4 Creates the platform to utilize new and innovative technology and information systems
in order to collect, analyze, report and disseminate information about a city’s progress to
its citizens, government representatives and the broader global community.

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3.5 Ensures that targets and goals for individual cities are designed to activate significant
transformation in children’s quality of life, and their implementation monitored.
Principle 4. A child friendly city encourages integrated planning forsustainable development
4.1 Creates opportunities for local and global partnerships that provide a fresh vision anda framework, based on principles of: universality, equity, sustainability and humane andfair city development.
4.2 Integrates the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability,including attention being made to the preservation and promotion of tangible andintangible culture.
4.3 Addresses the need to promote sustainable consumption, production and lifestyles at
all levels of society including the family, community and city.
4.4 Seeks to give every child a fair chance in life, and to achieve a pattern of development
where dignity and human rights become a reality for all and city strategies are built arounda focus on human and environmental security.
4.5 Balances the scales of equity on all fronts to break cycles of poverty and ensure thatthe children of today and tomorrow are able to have and inherit a liveable, safe world toplay in and develop their full potential.
We, the participants of the International Child Friendly Cities Asia Pacific conference inKathmandu, in collaboration with the global members of the Child Friendly Asia PacificRegional Network, support and declare that regional, state and national governments whoare signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should take up
the key principles as established here in order to ensure [that] as a region we are working
towards a vision to create a Child Friendly Asia Pacific that supports equitable, inclusive
and sustainable local governance.
Signed on this day, 29 June 2013.

Chair, Child Friendly Asia Pacific Network
On behalf of the members of the network