Want to be a member of HRE USA? JOIN TODAY

HRE USA

A network dedicated to building a culture of human rights

UNICEF USA’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI): Building Communities for Every Child

hreusa's avatar by Leave a comment

Since its launch on International Youth Day 2020, UNICEF USA’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) has been partnering with cities and counties across the U.S. to ensure children’s voices and rights are at the heart of local governance. Our first cohort includes Boulder (CO), Decatur (GA), Houston (TX), Minneapolis (MN), Prince George’s County (MD), and Alton (IL). As of April 2025, Denver (CO) joined our first post-pilot cohort. We’re proud to share that Houston (2023), Minneapolis (2024), and most recently Decatur (2025) have been officially recognized as the first UNICEF Child Friendly Cities in the United States.

While we aren’t currently accepting applications for formal CFCI partnership (our new cohort has just been selected), we are actively engaging with interested municipalities through our National Learning Community. Over the coming year, we’ll release new resources on child-centered governance and invite participants to webinars and learning exchanges.

Stay connected:

Leave a comment

We are grateful for the generous support of our members, individual donors, and The Puffin Foundation Ltd
The core values of HRE USA and its partner organizations include transparency and critical thinking skills. We believe that human rights--and human rights education--belong to everyone, and that the full realization of human rights means that access to human rights education materials must never be conditioned upon the subscription to any particular religious faith, ideology, political affiliation, or membership in any particular organization and that any organizational connections should be openly acknowledged.