Child friendly spaces

In the previous course step, we learnt how working in a child friendly manner includes providing a child friendly space where we can meet, listen, and offer support to children.

In this video, we hear Yasmin Yousef speaking about the importance of creating child friendly spaces for children. Yasmin is a UNICEF youth delegate and we were able to interview her when she was invited to speak at the Global Forum for Migration and Development, held in Morocco in December 2018. In the video we also see illustrations of child friendly spaces for unaccompanied and separated children that are being provided in refugee camps in Ethiopia, and in care settings in Mexico.

Child friendly spaces have become widely used to provide safe, creative and nurturing environments in which to play, learn and receive other key interventions such as psychosocial support, health, and educational activities. It is also important to create child friendly spaces that are accessible to all children. By clicking here you will be able to watch a short film showing children using an inclusive playground that UNICEF has opened in the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Please note, the film is only available in Arabic with English subtitles.

You can also find lots of other interesting information about child friendly spaces in different parts of the world by visiting the Save the Children website.

The ‘See Also’ section below also has links to other reading material that may be of interest to you.