New children's council and children's mayor of Kerkrade installed!

Festive installation
During the meeting, all children's councilors, surrounded by their proud parents and family members, took the "oath" under the guidance of Mayor Dassen. Afterwards, the children were given the opportunity to ask questions of two council members. The questions ranged from their favorite hobbies to why they are on the city council. The official installation was followed by a photo opportunity with the children's council and children's mayor.

Alderman René van Drunen (Youth): "I am enormously proud of our new children's council and children's mayor. It's great to see how involved and enthusiastic these young residents are. The children's council is a perfect learning environment in which they are introduced to democratic processes and discover how they themselves can think about the future of Kerkrade. I look forward to their advice and wish Jinte and all the other children lots of fun in their new role."

New children's mayor
The children themselves elected their new children's mayor. Of the 18 children serving on the council, as many as 9 wanted to become children's mayor. In short videos they told why they wanted to fulfill this role. After an exciting vote, the preference went to Jinte. As children's mayor and chairman of the children's council, she will also fulfill a representative and ceremonial function. Among other things, she will accompany the mayor at events such as King's Day, Remembrance Day and Liberation Day.

Jinte (age 9) responded enthusiastically, "I am very happy to have been chosen as children's mayor. Topics such as safety in traffic and attention to nature are very important to me. Together with the children's council we are going to make Kerkrade an even better and more fun city for all children!"

Children's Council gives children a voice
The municipality considers it very important to listen to children. Their opinions count in municipal policy. The Children's Council talks about issues that are important to children and teaches them to think together, listen to each other, understand what is going on, form their own opinions, discuss them with each other and ultimately make decisions together. This forms the basis of our democracy.

The children's council is an initiative of the municipality of Kerkrade and education foundation MOVARE and represents all children in the town. The council consists of pupils from group 7 of MOVARE's elementary school and is appointed for a period of two years. About 6 times a year, the members of the children's council meet to discuss topics that are important to them. In addition, the council sometimes asks their opinion on other topics.