The Global Child Forum is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

foundation, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The organization was founded by

King Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...

and

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

in 2009 in order to advance children’s rights in accordance with the UN

Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Co ...

. The focus of Global Child Forum is grounded in both the Convention on the Rights of a Child and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

'
Children’s Rights and Business Principles
and is aimed towards giving business an understanding of how and where their business might impact children.

History

Global Child Forum was founded in 2009 as World Child and Youth Forum (WCYF). The name was then shorted to Global Child Forum in 2012. Initially, WCYF was intended to be an independent group of decision-makers with the goal of discussing children’s rights and business while using the Royal Palace as a venue. Since then, the organization has expanded to include Regional Forums and conduct its own independent research.

Forums

Global Child Forum is best known for its global and regional forums. Each Forum consists of speaker sessions, panel discussions, and breakout Action Labs. Global forums are held at the Royal Palace in Stockholm and bring together top business leaders, political leaders, academics, and civil society representatives to discuss pressing issues related to children’s rights and business. Regional forums are designed to tackle children’s rights issues faced by that particular region with regional leaders in business, politics, academics, and civil society.

Global forums

To date, five global forums have been held at the Royal Palace. Approximately 300 global leaders in business, politics, civil society and academia have attended each of the forums. Each event has its own theme on issues concerning children’s rights and business. The latest global forum was 11 April 2018 and discussed investing in every child. During the 2018 Forum, the Global Child Forum Pledge was launched to encourage action amongst participants post-Forum. Additionally, for the first time, the Forum included child participants, Indonesian child laborers from th
It's Time to Talk!
report on child labour.

Regional forums

The regional forum is held every year in a new location. The forums brings together approximately 300 regional leaders in business, politics, civil society and academia to discuss issues concerning children’s rights and business within the context of their region. To date, the Global Child Forum has held four regional forums: one in the Middle East and North Africa
Southern AfricaSoutheast Asia
ref name=":0"> and South America.

Notable speakers

Regional Forum - Southern Africa 2015

* Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma – head, African Union Commission * Bjorn Grindberg – head of social investment,

Millicom Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As of ...

* Driekie Havenga- group ethics officer,

Nedbank Nedbank Group is a financial services group in South Africa offering wholesale and retail banking services as well as insurance, asset management, and wealth management. Nedbank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nedbank Group. Nedbank's ...

* Benyam Dawit Mezmur – chairperson, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child * Lindiwe Mokate – commissioner,

South African Human Rights Commission The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was inaugurated in October 1995 as an independent chapter nine institution. It draws its mandate from the South African Constitution by way of the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994. Commissioner ...

* Geoff Rothschild – patron,

Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, named after Nelson Mandela is a children's hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young a ...

Global Forum - Stockholm, Sweden 2015

* Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen – chief executive officer,

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation which works in over 75 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. Its focus is on child protection, education, child par ...

* Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein – UN commissioner for human rights * H.E Shaikha Al Maskari – chief executive, Al Maskari Holding * Michael Baldinger – chief executive officer, RobecoSAM * Irina Bokova – director-general,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

* Winne Byanyima- executive director,

Oxfam International Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

* Petter Johnsen – chief investment officer, equity strategies, Norges Bank Investment Management *

Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 20 ...

–

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, Sweden * Charlotte Petri Gornitzka – director-general, Sida * Seokpil Kim – executive vice president, public affairs,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

* Karl Henrik Sundström – chief executive officer,

Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...

Regional Forum - Southeast Asia 2016

* YW Junardy – member,

UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...

* Dato Sri

Rohani Abdul Karim Dato’ Sri Hajah Rohani binti Abdul Karim ( Jawi: روحاني بنت عبدالكريم; born 3 January 1955) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Deputy Minister of Domestic T ...

– minister,

Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development ( ms, Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat), abbreviated KPWKM, is a ministry of the Government of Malaysia responsible for social welfare: children, women, family, commun ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

* Simon Lord – group sustainability officer,

Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad () is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corpo ...

* H.E Le Luong Minh – secretary general,

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

* Thomas Thomas – CEO, ASEAN CSR Network

Regional Forum - South America 2017

* H.E

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

– President of the

Republic of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

* Clara Lopez Obregon – Minister of Labor, Colombia * Luis Alberto Moreno – Inter-American Development Bank * Mike Parra – chief executive officer of the Americas,

DHL Express DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DH ...

* Marta Santos Pais – representative of the

UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

on Violence against Children *

Paulo Skaf Paulo Antônio Skaf (born August 7, 1955) is a Brazilian entrepreneur and politician, affiliated to Republicans (in Portuguese: ''Republicanos'') of São Paulo. Skaf served as President of the Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paul ...

– president, Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo ( FIESP)

Global Forum - Stockholm, Sweden 2018

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expecte ...

* Natalie Au - global director,

Girl Effect Girl Effect is an independent non-profit organization, launched in September 2015 with the goal of ending poverty globally. History Girl Effect was created in 2004 by the Nike Foundation, in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation and United Nati ...

Lydia Capolicchio Lydia Capolicchio (born 7 January 1964) is a Swedish journalist and hostess. Born in Borås, Sweden, from an Italian father and a Slovene mother, Capolicchio is best known for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, alongside Harald Treutiger, ...

- moderator *

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt Anna Maria Corazza Bildt ('' née'' Anna Maria Corazza; born 10 March 1963) is an Italian-Swedish entrepreneur and politician, Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of the Swedish Moderate Party, part of the Eu ...

- member,

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Mikael Damberg Lars Mikael Damberg (born 13 October 1971) is a Swedish politician of the Social Democratic Party. He served as Minister for Finance from 2021 to 2022. He previously served as Minister for Enterprise from October 2014 to January 2019 and as minis ...

- Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Sweden * Johan Dennelind - chief executive officer,

Telia Company Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in F ...

* Professor Brian Ganson - head, Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement,

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

* Georg Kell - chairman,

Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

* Lise Kingo - chief executive director and executive director,

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...

* HRH

Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (née Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst; born 25 May 1966) is the wife of Prince Constantijn and sister-in-law of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Early life Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in ...

- founder, Missing Chapter Foundation * Fatoumata Ndiaye - deputy executive director, management,

* Hanna Roberts - chief executive officer, GES International * Nina Schefte - corporate social responsibility manager,

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

* Paul Schoenmakers - head of impact, Tony's Chocolonely * Julie Wallace - global head, community engagement, Standard Chartered Bank * Carine Smith Ihenacho - chief corporate governance officer, Norges Bank Investment Management * Leon Wijnands - global head of sustainability,

ING Bank The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banki ...

Research

The Global Child Forum conducts independent research and case studies. The

benchmark Benchmark may refer to: Business and economics * Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations * Benchmark price * Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices Science and technology * Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevati ...

reports, written in collaboration with the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by re ...

, are developed to be presented at regional forums and evaluate the top 300 publicly traded companies from regions where regional forums are to be held, and assesses their commitment to children’s rights issues. Previously, the 2016 benchmark highlighted how the

Nordic region The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Swed ...

lagged below the global average on children’s rights issues. During the

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Forum in 2017, Global Child Forum presented a report which revealed that South American companies are underperforming overall in addressing children's rights. The Global Child Forum also conducts case studies on companies who have scored highly on benchmarks.
The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas
is a

risk assessment Broadly speaking, a risk assessment is the combined effort of: # identifying and analyzing potential (future) events that may negatively impact individuals, assets, and/or the environment (i.e. hazard analysis); and # making judgments "on the ...

tool intended to help businesses identify and understand the risk of children’s rights violations and give an indication of the risks to children’s rights in different industries and countries. The Atlas covers 198 countries and territories and 10 industries and was developed in collaboration with

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.globalchildforum.org Organizations established in 2009 Child-related organizations in Sweden