Batticaloa, Sri Lanka’s first child-friendly municipality
View(s):The Batticaloa Municipal Council have teamed up with UNICEF to provide more recreation and entertainment to children including those affected by the civil war.
Two children’s parks, an arts centre and a centre for sports activities have been set up, Batticaloa Municipal Council Mayor Thiyagaraja Saravanabawan told the Education Times.
He said more projects would be coming up in future, to provide facilities for children in the outskirts of the council area as well. “We have focused on children with single parents, whose families were affected by the war,” he said.
The Batticaloa Municipality and UNICEF formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently, to support the establishment of the first child-friendly municipality.
The Mayor and UNICEF Sri Lanka Representative Tim Sutton signed the MoU.
“The signing of the MoU between the Batticaloa Municipality and UNICEF is yet another important step towards the goal of a truly child-friendly municipality. Children and young people are our future,” Mr Sutton said. “We look forward to supporting Batticaloa on their journey, and we encourage other cities to follow their inspiring lead,” he added.
(Deva Adiran)