By Suhaila Shahrul Annuar
PETALING JAYA, Sept 12 — Petaling Jaya has been declared a child-friendly city by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), deputy mayor Aznan Hassan revealed today.
He said the success is something that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) takes pride in, after the local council became the first in the country to receive the recognition.
“We obtained the recognition last week in Spain. Our mayor (Mohamad Azhan Md Amir) is still there at the moment,” he said after officiating the Petaling Jaya Book Expo 2023 at Dewan Sivik MBPJ, here, today.
“We are extremely proud to be recognised as a child-friendly city as it was not an easy undertaking. We have been striving for this for four years,”
Aznan said other than providing child-friendly facilities, other criteria that qualified Petaling Jaya to receive the recognition include the local council’s initiative to set up a Child Council.
The council members consist of 24 children aged between six and 17.
“The reason for this is because we feel they are mature enough to come up with ideas for a child-friendly city as well as to unearth leadership talents,” he said.
Previously in June, Unicef Malaysia representative Amanda Bissex announced that Petaling Jaya has been nominated as a child-friendly city during the city’s anniversary celebration.
