The first deputy mayor, Noelia González, and the Councilor for Children, Macarena Hernández, were present at the 24th edition of the Ibero-American Meeting of Local Authorities, which took place last week in the Mexican city of Zapopan, in the state of Jalisco, in representation of Los Realejos, invited by the Ibero-American Union of Municipalists, by Unicef Canarias and Unicef Spain.
Both addressed childhood policies from different perspectives and taking the royal town as a model of excellence at the national level in this area, in a summit in which more than 300 representatives from 22 countries in Latin America, Central America and Spain participated.
“This invitation demonstrates that the trajectory and journey of childhood policies promoted in Los Realejos by the work of listening and active and effective participation of boys and girls has not gone unnoticed,” said Hernández at a participation table.
A task, he added, that has been worked on decisively since the promotion of the Niñ@landia program in the local educational centers in 2005 and that led to a mention of good practices by Unicef in 2012, and the subsequent declaration of Los Realejos as a Child-Friendly City, with international recognition since 2014, elevated to a mention of excellence since 2018.
On the closing day, Noelia González participated with a new presentation alluding to Los Realejos as a Child-Friendly City. In that context, she thanked the invitation for “a very gratifying experience that has connected us with the reality of childhood in so many countries, from which we draw multiple lessons that we can implement in our municipality.”
On the other hand, the mayor, Adolfo González, added that “it is a pride to once again place Los Realejos on the international map in childhood policies, as we already had the opportunity to do a few years ago with the presence at a world summit held in Germany, where our experience in child participation was also a reference. A work that we have to thank the technical staff of the area, the involvement of the educational centers and families and, above all, the historical predisposition and active participation of boys, girls and young people of this municipality, where they represent the present and the future.” .
