Safe in Town | | Safe in Town | Bambini sicuri in città | Convenzione onu Diritti Bambini | Protezione e benessere | Contro la violenza sui minori

Summary

Every year, millions of children across the world experience violence, often in places where they should feel safest: at home, at school, and in their communities. SAFE IN TOWN is an initiative dedicated to tackling this urgent issue by supporting the development and implementation of comprehensive, city-level child safeguarding policies.

The project works with selected municipalities in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Portugal to create safer, inclusive, and child-friendly environments. It promotes a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together local authorities, service providers, communities, and children themselves to prevent violence, strengthen protection systems, and ensure effective responses when risks arise.

Following the EU Recommendation on integrated child protection systems, SAFE IN TOWN fosters innovative policies, procedures, and practices, including child- and gender-sensitive referral mechanisms and evidence-based strategies. By building local capacities and a strong culture of safeguarding, the initiative aims to reduce risks, protect children, and empower them to thrive safely in their communities.

The project includes multiple steps:

• Mapping and assessment of existing local systems and gaps
• Policy development and testing tailored to each city
• Training and capacity-building for local professionals and institutions
• Child participation throughout the project lifecycle
• Establishment of coordinated procedures for inter-agency cooperation and child-friendly referral
• Monitoring and evaluation to ensure accountability and learning

A core element of SAFE IN TOWN is ensuring that children are fully informed of their rights and empowered to actively contribute to creating safe, inclusive communities. Children will be involved from the earliest stages, participating in the design and programming of the initiative, while being supported to understand the mechanisms available to report concerns and seek support — always in line with applicable laws and the project’s priorities.

By promoting integrated, rights-based child protection systems, the initiative seeks to close existing gaps between policy and practice. Through multi-sectoral collaboration, SAFE IN TOWN will develop city child safeguarding and wellbeing policies that are both effective and adaptable, offering models that can be replicated in other urban contexts.

Focusing on four medium-sized European cities with populations between 100,000 and 200,000, the project leverages the subsidiarity of local governments to pilot innovative approaches to prevention, early identification, and timely intervention. These cities provide ideal environments to test new safeguarding tools, protocols, and collaborative practices.

Implementation will be carried out in close partnership with local authorities, external stakeholders, and children themselves. This collaborative approach will result in tailor-made City Child Safeguarding Policies (CCSPs), strengthening the connections between municipal authorities, children, civil society, and local communities, and laying the groundwork for safer, child-centered urban environments.