The implementation of the platform “City Friendly for Children and Adolescents” was discussed at the Media Center of the Vitebsk Region

 The Media Center of the Vitebsk Region hosted a round table “Implementation of the platform “City Friendly for Children and Adolescents” using the example of the Vitebsk Region.”

The round table experts were the chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies Dmitry Demidov , the deputy chairman of the regional executive committee Vyacheslav Durnov , the chairman of the Vitebsk City Council of Deputies Olga Ivanova , the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Belarus Rustam Khaidarov .

“Novopolotsk was the first in Belarus to receive the status of a “Child Friendly City,” this is a source of pride for us,” said Dmitry Demidov. “And the work that has been carried out for 11 years as part of this initiative is yielding results. We created the Parliament of Children and Youth of Novopolotsk, and now many children take part in public initiatives of Novopolotsk and implement their own ideas. We need to intensify our work on interaction with UNICEF. I am also confident that the city authorities of Vitebsk, together with the main education department of the regional executive committee, will summarize the existing resource of the regional center, which, in my opinion, already has the necessary potential and fully meets the criteria of being friendly to children and adolescents. We must build a system for involving our children in making key decisions in this or that microdistrict of our city and in general in the administration of the regional center.

Dmitry Demidov expressed a bold thought for the future: why not consider the idea that in general the entire Vitebsk region would become a child-friendly region. The Media Center of the Vitebsk Region also hosted a presentation of the experience of implementing a global initiative by representatives of the education system and the Parliament of Children and Students of Novopolotsk.

By the way. In the Vitebsk region, the honorary title “City Friendly to Children and Teenagers” was also awarded to Polotsk and Orsha. Braslav joined the initiative.

Photo by Peter CHIMKOVSKY