Safe in town: il via al progetto a Matosinhos! | | Movimento Globale per i Diritti dell’Infanzia

The kick-off meeting and induction workshop of the SAFE IN TOWN project was held in Matosinhos, Portugal: a European initiative to develop and implement integrated municipal child protection policies to prevent and respond to violence against children in urban settings.

This EU-funded project aims to support local authorities in four European cities (Ferrara in Italy, Chania in Greece, Strovolos in Cyprus, and Matosinhos in Portugal) in developing and activating integrated municipal child safeguarding policies, with the objective of preventing and responding to violence against children in urban settings.

The kick-off meeting and induction workshop took place in Matosinhos, where all project partners and participating municipalities gathered to:

• share a common methodology,
• define an operational roadmap,
• strengthen collaboration among local stakeholders and promote active child participation.

SAFE IN TOWN seeks to contribute to more effective and coordinated local child protection systems through:

• the design of tailor-made safeguarding policies,
• the creation or reinforcement of multi-sectoral, child-friendly referral systems,
• capacity-building and training for professionals and institutions,
• and the direct involvement of children in the planning and evaluation of actions.

In the coming months, the project will launch its mapping phase, assessing existing policies and services as a foundation for building models that can be replicated across Europe.

We warmly thank our project partners – Defence for Children Greece, Hope for Children, CESIS – Centre for Studies for Social Intervention, and the Municipalities of Ferrara, Matosinhos, Chania and Strovolos – for their shared commitment.