UNICEF Child Friendly Municipality

From November 2025 to November 2027, Sønderborg Municipality is actively working to become certified as a UNICEF Child Friendly Municipality. The certification is valid for four years with the possibility of recertification.

In the budget agreement for 2025-2028, the City Council of Sønderborg Municipality has allocated resources to ensure that the municipality can be certified as a UNICEF Child Friendly Municipality. The ambition is to strengthen the work with children and young people's well-being, development and rights throughout the municipality.

A central focus is that children and young people are heard and have real influence on decisions that affect their everyday lives. This applies to daycare, school and leisure activities as well as to the development of the municipality – for example, in urban life, culture and health.

As part of the effort, a program manager has been hired and a steering group and a frontrunner group have been established. Together, they will drive and support the work of developing Sønderborg in an even more child-friendly direction. The effort is both about launching new initiatives and strengthening what is already working well.

Sønderborg wants to be a child- and family-friendly municipality, where community, participation and responsibility go hand in hand. The goal is to create a good framework where all children and young people thrive and have the opportunity to develop.

The work is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and aims to translate children's rights into concrete action in everyday life. This means, among other things, that the child and youth perspective is taken into account in decisions and solutions across the entire municipality.

What does it mean to be certified as a Child Friendly Municipality?

To become certified as a UNICEF Child Friendly Municipality, a municipality goes through a six-step process. The process typically takes one to two years:

1. Sønderborg Municipality and UNICEF Denmark enter into a cooperation agreement.

2. The municipality prepares a situation analysis that describes the current efforts and points to areas where changes are desired.

3. Based on the analysis, an action plan is prepared for the next 1–2 years with specific goals and initiatives.

4. The efforts are initiated, communicated and anchored in the municipality. At the same time, a competency development course for employees and managers is carried out in collaboration with UNICEF Denmark.

5. The municipality and UNICEF Denmark follow up and evaluate the results of the efforts.

6. If the requirements are met, the mayor and UNICEF Denmark sign a certification agreement, and the municipality achieves the status of a UNICEF Child-Friendly Municipality.

The certification is valid for four years. After that, the municipality can be recertified based on an updated analysis and a new action plan.

Cooperation agreement

In November 2025, Sønderborg Municipality signed a cooperation agreement with UNICEF Denmark. The signing took place at Hertugbyens Dagtilbud in Augustenborg, where around 45 children from both daycare and school participated. As part of the celebration, the children made handprints and wrote their names as a symbol of their commitment to the collaboration.

situation analysis

In the first half of 2026, Sønderborg Municipality will conduct a situation analysis. The analysis provides an overall picture of how children and young people's rights and involvement are currently being worked on, and points to areas where the municipality wants to develop.

The situation analysis is expected to be completed in November 2026 and will then be available for download on this page.

Action Plan

As a continuation of the situation analysis, the municipality is preparing an action plan with prioritized initiatives. The plan is based on the analysis and the ongoing competence development and brings together the initiatives that will help strengthen Sønderborg as a child-friendly municipality.

The action plan can include both new initiatives and further development of existing efforts. There will also be the opportunity to test new workflows and launch pilot projects – for example in schools, daycare centers or other local communities.

The action plan is expected to be completed in early 2027 and will be available on this page. The efforts will be implemented towards certification at the end of 2027.

Evaluation

As part of the certification process, an evaluation of the efforts will be carried out at the end of 2027. The evaluation follows up on the goals and efforts set out in the action plan and provides a picture of the results achieved.

The evaluation is expected to be published in late 2027 and will be available on this page. The results will be communicated to both partners and citizens – and in relevant contexts also in a form adapted to children and young people.