CPI Activities
 

Phase one of the Initiative covers assessment of the status quo of children in some MENA cities and of agencies responsible for their welfare and protection (including municipalities), as well as to assess their capacity building needs. The next phase will include programs for institutional capacity building and provision of technical and material assistance, according to CPI priorities and the response of cities and concerned agencies. Within this framework, studies were conducted in Riyadh, Amman, Khartoum, Alexandria, Sana’a, Beirut, Casa Blanca, and Medina Munawara,  Kuwait, Gaza, Algiers and Tehran.

THE CPI ACTIVITIES INCLUDES:

Conferences and Workshops:  

- Urban Children & Youth in the MENA Region: Addressing Priorities in Education.

- Knowledge Management on Children Status in MENA Cities.

- MENA CPI Current Status and Future Directions.

- Children and Youth in Al Madinah: A Hopeful Future.

Studies:

- Studies on The Status of Children and The Concerned Organizations in 12 MENA Cities ( Riyadh, Riyadh2,  Sana''a, Amman, Alexandria, Beirut, Khartoum, Casablanca, Kuwait, Medina Munawara, Tehran, Gaza, Algiers, Aden , Consolidated Study for 13 cities in the MENA region).

- Children and the City : The Status of Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Children in Cities of the MENA Region.

- Concept Paper on Data on Urban Children in the MENA Region.

- Early Childhood in Arab Towns and the Potential Role of the CPI in the Middle East and North Africa.

- Child Labour in Sana''a (CPI and UCW study)

- Child Friendly Citites Manual (Arabic Version)

- Child Friendly Cities Training Manual (Arabic Version)

- Stocktaking and Mayor''s Perception in 5 cities (Arabic Version): Amman (Jordan), Aleppo (Syria), Aswan (Egypt) , Sana''a (Yemen) and Tripoli (Lebanon).

- Street Children Survey in Cairo (Egypt), 2009

Pamphlets:

1. Child labor

2. Violence against children

3. Children''s disability

4. Children''s rights

Capacity Building:

The CPI aims to upgrade the capacities of local authorities and municipalities to become more effective in improving the well being of children, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, and to enhance knowledge of effective policies and programs that address critical issues

The CPI supported representatives from three cities of the region, namely, Amman, Sanaa and Alexandria to participate in the ChildStreet 2005 Conference held in Netherlands, which was organized by the International Institute for Urban Environment and the City of Delft. The conference was a chance for the representatives of the three cities to share current thinking and good practice with parents, politicians, planners, pressure groups, professionals, practitioners and other people on one of the most pressing challenges facing local government today: how to facilitate children’s needs for playing and independent (walking and cycling) mobility in ever busier cities?

Participation in Conferences:

• The inauguration of “Amman – a Child-Friendly City”, celebrated in Amman, Jordan
• The 25th Conference of The International Union For Scientific Study of Population organized in France
• A consultative meeting held in Cairo by representatives of the MENA region on a United-Nations conducted study on violence against children
• The CPI and WB Reaching Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Children in MENA
• CPI Participated in GCCs Workshop on Problems of Orphans
• The Regional workshop on Violence against Children, April 2005, Khartoum.
• The Technical consulting committee for Arab Childhood, May 2005, Khartoum.

THE NEXT PHASE:

The next phase will witness a steady progress of the CPI in the implementation of its programs. It is currently conducting a study to establish a reliable funding mechanism, benefiting from regional and international experiences. This endeavor will be carried out through a regional fund that will contribute in funding municipal child-oriented, local projects in MENA cities, including capacity building for municipalities and local governments to enable them implement suitable interventions and model programs.

The CPI will continue to build the knowledge base on children’s issues and will publish and disseminate key documents and related policy papers. A specialized website is currently being developed as an important source of information on children’s issues in the region. Furthermore, it will benefit from the lessons learned from successful projects worldwide and coordinate with municipalities and concerned institutions to replicate those projects. The UNICEF-Habitat initiated Child-Friendly Cities programs has been identified as a strong candidate.  The CPI will also work closely with municipalities to update and revise planning legislations and building bye-laws to incorporate children’s needs and requirements.