Other participation spaces | Ministerio de Juventud e Infancia

Among the programs funded by the Ministry of Youth and Childhood are highlighted:

Child-Friendly Cities Program (CAI)

The Child-Friendly Cities Program (CAI) by UNICEF Spanish Committee, is an initiative led by UNICEF in more than 30 countries, including Spain since 2004, which supports Local Entities in their efforts to fulfill their commitment to children's rights. To date, with the collaboration of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, it has a presence in all Autonomous Communities and includes 321 recognized local entities, home to one in every two children and adolescents in Spain. For this, it is an indispensable condition to establish stable structures that ensure the exercise of the right of children and adolescents to be heard on municipal matters that concern them and to have their opinions considered.

At the end of 2025, they launched a campaign to highlight the work and achievements of the friendly cities after twenty years of operations in Spain. The concept revolves around the characteristics of friendship and how they can be applied to a city.

Additionally, they have prepared a Impact Evaluation Report on the Achievements of Child-Friendly Cities in Spain 2012-2023 to assess and rigorously, externally, and critically understand what achievements are being reached and what the real impact is of the initiative on the lives of children and adolescents. This document presents the main findings and recommendations of that evaluation, evaluating the design, implementation, and impact and results, and identifies the main challenges the initiative faces in its goal of continuing to work for children's and adolescents' rights.

Cibercorresponsales Program, Network of Young Journalists

The Cibercorresponsales Program, Network of Young Journalists is an initiative of Plataforma de Infancia since 2010. It is another pillar of this right for children and adolescents, offering them a network of blogs and a social network (cibercorresponsales) of boys and girls under 18 who tell the world what they think, what they feel, what concerns them, or what they want to change. Always participating in groups and through social or educational intervention processes (schools, associations, city councils, NGOs...) they want and intend to be heard, facilitating their participation and offering a positive, healthy, and responsible alternative for using ICT.

Commemorative Act for Universal Children's Rights Day

The annual celebration of the Universal Children's Rights Day, celebrated in collaboration with Plataforma de Infancia, represents visibility and public exposure of a wide participatory process generated every year. The aim is for children and adolescents from participation groups, entities, and councils from across the territory to learn about the Convention on the Rights of the Child and lead change through reflection and citizen proposals.

The participatory process for 2026 carries the motto "Rights to Action" and the proposal is to address, based on the Committee's final observations, the following rights: the right to health, the right to protection against violence, and the right to equality and non-discrimination. The celebration of the event will be on Friday, November 20th.

All information about the process and materials can be found on the website www.diadelainfancia.es. To participate, groups must register.