Tokyo Hosts Global Forum to Spearhead ‘Children-First’ Policies

Growing up in Tokyo comes with its perks. Anyone aged 18 or younger is eligible for cash support, regardless of their family’s income. They can also anonymously consult a range of experts through a free online chat service about personal worries and concerns.

The Second Tokyo Global Forum on Children (TGFC) February 4-6 2026

These are just a few glimpses of the flagship “Children-First” initiatives promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG)—which is increasingly positioning itself as a global leader in child-oriented policies. 

For two years running, the TMG’s Liaison Office for Child-Oriented Policies has organized an international conference of like-minded cities committed to improving the well-being of juveniles.

The Second Tokyo Global Forum on Children, held February 4-6, brought together senior representatives of 20 city or national governments abroad, up from 13 last year.

Along with their Tokyo counterparts, they shared and discussed wide-ranging policies, practices and ideas under this year’s theme: “Initiatives That Support Adolescents” with a focus on mental health, places of belonging and work experiences.

Stopping Child Suicides Is an ‘Urgent Priority’

Video Message from Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko for TGFC

“Children are our greatest treasure. And the smiles of children mean hope for the future,” Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko said in a video message to the forum.

But she warned, “Adolescent mental health issues are increasing worldwide.” “Unfortunately, the number of child suicides is rising in Japan as well, making the implementation of further countermeasures an urgent priority.” 

As an example of Tokyo’s youth mental health programs, the governor cited the aforementioned online counselling service, dubbed “Gyutto Chat” (gyutto means holding someone tight), which started in January last year and is also available to parents tied up with child-rearing. She said that the forum is intended to ”accelerate initiatives by cities that contribute to a future where all children can grow up happy and healthy.”

At the forum, eight cities made presentations on the theme of “Adolescent Mental Health.”　

The Austrian capital of Vienna outlined two initiatives. It provides free, voluntary and anonymous psychological support directly at 10 youth centers, and organizes “Mental Health Days” at secondary schools.

For a “Mental Health Day,” children, parents, teachers and clinical psychiatrists are mobilized to promote awareness and early intervention in mental health with regard to bullying, body image shaming, eating disorders and other issues. “We are investing in a healthier, more resilient and more inclusive future,” said Ishita Mohil, Policy Advisor for Vienna’s Deputy Mayor.

New Taipei City, a megalopolis surrounding Taiwan’s capital, focused on preventing teens from drug abuse. The city has developed a program that engages at-risk adolescents in “role-playing” dramas aimed at helping them build self-resilience and reconnect with society. 

YouTube: The Second “Tokyo Global Forum on Children (TGFC)”
【Day1】 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJgnBGUtiDY
【Day2】 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgxZewJ918Y&t=8230s

United Nations: a Place where NYC’s Youth Feel They Belong

Carly Avezzano
New York, United States

Puspita Ayuningtyas Prawesti
Surabaya, Indonesia

Thomas Dirk Allegaert
Brussels, Belgium

Half of the participating cities addressed the theme of “Places Where Adolescents Feel a Sense of Belonging”—exploring where youth feel they are wholly accepted and where they prepare for their journey into adulthood.

New York City, home to the United Nations, presented a unique city-led program that sends youth to the world body to interact with diplomats and experts, who for their part pay visits to the classrooms.

“Rather than asking youth to simply learn about global issues, we enlighten them to engage with them both vocally, actively and on long terms,” said Carly Avezzano, an International Affairs director for the NYC Mayor’s Office. “In this way, we’re able to transform the UN, a global institution, into a place of belonging for youth as well.” 

Surabaya—Indonesia’s populous multi-cultural, multi-ethnic city—demonstrated why it is part of the UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) network. It has maintained child-friendly infrastructure such as community reading parks and broadband learning centers.

Puspita Ayuningtyas Prawesti, who heads Surabaya’s Human Development Working Team, explained that the city government ensures the availability of accessible, comprehensive and sustainable public services to create “heavens for every child and adolescent in every corner of Surabaya.” 

Tokyo highlighted its efforts to create playgrounds, after-school care and learning spaces, and other facilities for youth. Some parks have been renovated to lift a ban on ball games.

The metropolitan government has supported 22 local municipalities in creating “playgrounds that reflect children’s opinions” in the past three years. It aims to support local municipalities in developing places of belonging for junior and senior high school students. 

Reflecting ‘Children’s Voices’ in City Planning and Governance

Five cities focused on “Work Experiences for Adolescents.” 

Auckland, New Zealand, featured a community library that is dedicated to youth’s needs and named Tupu (new growth in Māori). It provides local students with paid work over 10 weeks to train themselves in library processes as well as “soft skills” such as leadership, adaptability and teamwork. 

Some of the students use the payments to support their families as Tupu Youth Library is located in a less affluent suburban area, which is “increasing in its ethnic diversity and very vibrant,” said Richy Nigel Misilei, who serves as a local lead and coach of the Auckland Council.

Petaling Jaya, a satellite city of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, detailed the activities of its council made up of some 30 children aged 9-17 years—the Petaling Jaya Child Council (PJCC) now in its fifth term.

The PJCC was established to “institutionalize children’s voices” in city planning and governance, said Lee Lih Shyan, the city’s developmental planning director. He also cited the roles of children in child abuse prevention, neighborhood space co-designing and other activities that provide them with “real-world engagement” opportunities.

A ‘Win-Win’ for Students and Work Experience Providers

In Tokyo, some junior and senior high school students participate in policy discussions and propose ideas to the governor. Others are matched up with companies and organizations through a website for hands-on experiences in chores such as elderly care support and hotel banquet preparation.

These arrangements enable the hosts to recognize their strengths through students’ feedback and gain new insights for product development. “Through this win-win initiative, we will continue expanding opportunities for students in Tokyo to experience diverse professions and grow,” said Furuse Hirotaka, a director for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Liaison Office for Child-Oriented Policies. 

At the Second Tokyo Global Forum on Children, junior and senior high school students in Tokyo reviewed their TMG-sponsored trip last March to Belgium where they studied innovative child-focused policies and toured facilities related to children. The Liaison Office hosted the Tokyo Forum of Young Minds as part of the Teens Square Tokyo Project Initiative last August with children from Tokyo, Brussels, Dublin, Surabaya and Taipei, and plans to send 10 Tokyo students to Denmark and Sweden in late March for exchanges on child-oriented policies.

On February 6, about 35 forum participants from abroad toured three youth support facilities in Tokyo. One of them was a counselling center located in the heart of Kabuki-cho, known as Asia’s largest nightlife district. The area is within walking distance from the forum venue, which was adjacent to the TMG headquarters.

The center, named “Kimimamo (derived from a phrase meaning ‘we want to protect you’,” provides consultation, comfort and legal and administrative support to young people, aged up to 39 but mostly in their early 20s. It is open between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday. 

“It is fascinating,” said David McCollum, Head of New Deal for Young People at the Greater London Authority, about the users’ demands for 24-7 operations. “We probably don’t have a comparable time frame in London. Less people are gathering. It’s a bit quieter at midnight.” 

A Lot of ‘Homework’ to Do Before the Next Round

Ash Lister
Cardiff, UK

Lian Ming Wee
Singapore

Heather Tillock
Toronto, Canada

After two days of presentations, many participants admitted they face “common challenges” and hoped to upgrade their own child-focused policies with takeaways from the Tokyo Global Forum on Children.

“I will take them all as homework,” Ash Lister, the chief representative of Cardiff, Wales, said in a wrap-up session, referring to the notes he had taken from “every single presentation.”

Some of the presentations reminded him of “what we’ve already done and need to revisit to make sure we’re doing everything that we can for our children and young people,” added Lister, a member of Cardiff’s Cabinet for Children’s Services.

Lian Ming Wee from the city-state of Singapore said: “These exchanges of best practices, ideas, are really helping us (and) inspire all of us to do better and open our minds to fresh ideas as well.”

Lian, Senior Director for Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development, has attended the forum twice. He said he hoped to keep coming back for years ahead.

“We recognized that we face common challenges in child policies, even if (in) different social systems and cultures,” said Yamamoto Mario, Senior Director for the TMG Liaison Office for Child-Oriented Policies. “It’s very important for cities to collaborate more closely and share the knowledge and the solutions to address these challenges,” he added, hoping that the participants will come back next year.

The Liaison Office plans to continue hosting the annual forum by inviting 15-20 leading child-friendly cities. It will select the participants through networks it has built as well as other means.

20 participating overseas　governments in 2026: Auckland (New Zealand), Berlin, Brussels, Cardiff (UK), Copenhagen, Helsinki, Houston (US), Ireland, London, Malmo (Sweden), Milan (Italy), Munich (Germany), New Taipei (Taiwan), New York (US), Petaling Jaya (Malaysia), Singapore, Surabaya (Indonesia), Taipei, Toronto (Canada), Vienna.

13 participating overseas governments in 2025: Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Cardiff (UK), Helsinki, Ireland, London, Manchester (UK), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Taipei, Vienna.

Putting Children First on the Path to Create the ‘World’s Best City’

“Over the past ten years of my term as governor, I have placed the principle of ‘Children First’ at the center of our policies,” Governor Koike commented when the number of births in Tokyo last year was found to have risen for the first time in nine years. A former member of national parliament, she was first elected as Tokyo’s first female governor in 2016.
“I have implemented seamless support across all life stages with a strong focus on each individual,” she added.

The “Children-First” drive has swung into full gear after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Basic Ordinance on Children went into effect in 2021 based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Liaison Office for Child-Oriented Policies was created in 2022.

In the Tokyo 2050 Strategy, formulated last year, “Children First” heads the list of the TMG’s long-term priorities and is bearing fruit. The strategy aims to make Tokyo “the world’s best city” by integrating sustainability and zero emissions, social inclusion and well-being, resilience to future risks, innovation-driven growth and other steps.

The TMG has been implementing “seamless” measures to assist matchmaking, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, child-rearing and other phases of family life. The number of births in Tokyo in 2025 rose for the first time in nine years while the declining birthrate continues unabated in Japan as a whole.

Births in Tokyo in 2025 rose 1.3% from the previous year to 88,518, according to preliminary national government statistics. 

Tokyo’s draft budget for the fiscal year starting on April 1 was set at a record 9.65 trillion yen (about 62 billion dollars), of which about 23% is allotted to strengthen measures to promote child-oriented policies.

“Of course, each individual's desire to marry or have children stems from their own thoughts and hopes,” Governor Koike told a recent news conference. “However, from a broader societal perspective, I believe that creating a society where people can achieve their aspirations ultimately contributes to maintaining our population.” 

Pocketbook: Action for Children’s Futures 2025
https://www.kodomoseisaku.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/documents/d/kodomoseisaku/miraiaction2025pocketbook_english-pdf

The 2026 edition in English is not yet available.