Jungnang-gu Launches Third Children's Policy Participation Group to Put Kids' Voices Into Local Government

Jungnang-gu held the inaugural ceremony for its 2026 Third Children's Policy Participation Group on June 25, formally launching a program designed to bring children's perspectives directly into district governance. District Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi presided over the event.

The participation group is a consultative body through which children — as the primary stakeholders of children's policy — can voice opinions on issues that affect them and monitor the state of children's rights on the ground. Jungnang-gu, which earned UNICEF Child-Friendly City certification last year, plans to use the third cohort to deepen children's involvement in policymaking and ensure their views are more broadly reflected in district decisions.

The district selected 26 students in grades 3 through 6 from local elementary schools in May through open recruitment and institutional referrals. Over the next five months, the group will carry out three activities: completing children's rights education, monitoring the actual state of children's rights, and identifying and submitting policy ideas. In November, the group will hold a policy-proposal presentation and graduation ceremony to share the results of its work and present the ideas its members developed from a child's perspective.

Jungnang-gu has consistently built the foundations for advancing children's rights since enacting a child-friendly city ordinance in 2022, securing dedicated staff, forming the children's policy participation group, conducting child-friendliness surveys and gathering public opinion, running children's rights education, and establishing a development strategy.

Those efforts paid off in June last year, when the district received Child-Friendly City certification from the Korean Committee for UNICEF. Drawing on its experience running the first and second cohorts, the district plans to strengthen the third group's operations to guarantee children's meaningful right to participate and ensure their voices feed more broadly into policy.

"The Children's Policy Participation Group is a forum where children can speak up for themselves and realize their rights," district Mayor Ryu said. "We will support the process so that children's diverse ideas and proposals are reflected in district governance, and we will build a child-friendly city of Jungnang where children's rights are realized in everyday life."