Guillermo Bolufer, member of the UNICEF Valencian Community Committee Board, has delivered this week to two representatives of the Local Council for Childhood and Adolescence (CLIA), Ainoa Aleksandrova and Kinan Zniterh, the diploma accrediting the Child Friendly City seal that Dénia has achieved . The event was held in the Plenary Hall of the Dénia City Council with the participation of the mayor of the city, Vicent Grimalt, the Councilor for Equality and Inclusive Policies, Melani Ivars, and in the presence of other CLIA members and representatives of the municipal corporation, with a limited capacity and adapted to the health recommendations.
The representative of UNICEF Valencian Community has congratulated the members of the Local Council for Children and Adolescents for the work they have developed to achieve recognition. Guillermo Bolufer has told the children and adolescents of the CLIA and, by extension, everyone in the city, that "your voice and special gaze is deeply valuable so that we can build municipalities in which to live happily". "His opinion - he added - is wise and generous and helps adults to make decisions." To end his speech, he thanked the City Council of Dénia, both the political leaders and the teams of workers, "the commitment to support children."
On behalf of the CLIA "and of all the children and adolescents of Dénia", Kinan Zniterh has intervened, who has reflected on the process that has culminated in obtaining the Child Friendly City seal. The boy recalled that “Dénia thought that childhood was not only the future, but that it could be the present, therefore, the first thing that was done was to promote the creation of the Consell, which met for the first time in December 2019. Today, the objective has been achieved and we are now a Child Friendly City ”, he concluded before starting the applause from the room.
To make such good news more visible and shared with the public, at the end of the parliaments a banner has been displayed on the façade of the town hall which, in addition, will light up blue at night to celebrate it.
The mayor, Vicent Grimalt, has resorted to the figure of the young activist Greta Thunberg to speak of the transforming power of the children and adolescents of Dénia, which they can achieve “from a participatory body such as the Council for Children and Adolescents, many and very important transformations that we can promote with your help ”. The objective is, in the words of the mayor, “that Dénia listens to the boys and girls who also live in this city and who have the right to enjoy it, to have a city adapted to their needs and the right to a beautiful, safe and sustainable future in this municipality. You are, therefore, a great hope for the future; the guarantee that Dénia will be better when you are older ”.
With the act began a week full of activities that, as Councilor Melani Ivars has said, “includes many of the concerns that the protagonists, the youngest of the city, have sent us, and who wants, in addition to 'offering them a complete program, make them visible as a group that also has the right to decide which city they want, to express needs and preferences and to be heard. '
Ivars stressed that the most important thing about this week "is that it has been designed according to the proposals made by the children of Dénia themselves through the Council for Children and Adolescents."
The activities will last until Saturday November 20, Children's Day, when a fun and festive day is planned in the Torrecremada gardens.
