During the Conference, the issue of children affected by poverty was addressed as a transversal topic. The theme was discussed, building from the outcomes of Istanbul (Habitat II Conference), Accra and Naples. The committee gathered experts on this specific issue from different backgrounds who held separate meetings and participated actively in the discussion in the working groups, producing a final document in the form of project proposal. The objectives of the group were: (1) to ensure the presence of children issues in the agenda of the thematic working groups; (2) to prepare a work plan on this specific issue to be considered as part of the Forum workplan.

1.     Plenary Presentation

The UNICEF experience in promoting the Child-Friendly Initiative and a brief presentation of the initiative were presented in plenary by Ximena de la Barra. She described the strategy of the Child-friendly Initiative and the partnership it has promoted. Among other aspects, she stressed the links between this Initiative and the poverty reduction strategy that the Conference was discussing, such as:

• the crucial role that prevention has to play;
• child-friendly cities are an objective that benefits the whole city and quality of life.

2.     Activities in the Working Groups

Participation of specialists on children's issues in the different working groups helped highlight some specific concerns related to children in connection with the WG themes. The scope for cross fertilization was also highlighted. Furthermore possible cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships were identified.

The Working Group on Transport: here the child's perspective introduces the non-users point of view in relation to transport planning. It can also be instrumental in introducing more community-wide concerns, which do not relate to transport exclusively but to work and productivity. The scope for cross fertilization on this issue is very broad.

The Working Group on Violence: here a specific session of the Working Group devoted to the problem of gangs and crime among street children provided an important setting for the analysis of initiatives and experiences gained in, among other countries, Italy, Mexico, South Africa. Issues that need further analysis and conceptual development are (1) violence targeting children (violence on children domestic employees, etc.) and (2) effects of a violent environment on the development of children (i.e. non-accessibility to recreational spaces and public spaces).

The Working Group on Shelter and Employment: here it was noted that very little attention was paid either to issues of child labour and/or to children needs in the context of the informal city by the discussion held during the WG session. The committee identified some sector of possible common activities. In particular it stressed the importance of community-level services linked to productivity and management of space for low-income families (Home Based Enterprises (HBE) and other) and to the possibility of women to access work and other resources.

3.     Committee output

The Committee work has shown that the focus on children and the child-friendly perspective can contribute to sectoral and global approaches to urban poverty reduction. It produced a detailed project document, in which, while supporting the strategy designed through previous conferences, the group agreed on the following steps to be undertaken by partners:

• development of guidelines on the principles of Child-Friendly cities to be used by partners and child-rights advocates;
• promotion of the use of a minimum set of indicators for monitoring the status of children in cities;
• creation of a framework for exchange of information on experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of child-focused urban development programmes;
• securing a more stable base to the Child-Friendly initiative by developing regional coordination activities;
• promotion of a Child-Friendly Cities Resource and Information Facility, that could act as main partner on children for the IFUP.