Kazakhstan Child Friendly Cities: Final Report November 2013

UNICEF Kazakhstan, has jointly with the Child Rights Protection Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, launched the national child friendly cities assessment and recognition process with the objective of supporting child friendly cities and community partners in Kazakhstan to develop, implement and monitor their progress in improving the conditions of children’s lives. The new assessment and recognition process will provide a mechanism that will allow UNICEF to actively and effectively promote good governance for children and place children at the center of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) national agenda. In late 2011 in order to provide the most appropriate model UNICEF Kazakhstan employed an external researcher, Professor Karen Malone to conduct research on CFCI in Kazakhstan, design an accreditation model consistent with international best practice and provide recommendations and an implementation strategy. The three key research questions that informed the study included: 1. What is the status of existing Kazakhstan CFCs and do they provide evidence of good governance and in particular support child and youth participation? 2. What do key stakeholders, including children and youth, believe is the best strategy to effectively promote the CFCI in Kazakhstan and support a process of recognition for CFC’s? 3. What model of assessment and recognition and strategy of implementation would best support cities in Kazakhstan who are seeking to begin CFC programs, and how are those who have been implementing CFCI’s over time being recognized for their efforts?