Website globalchildforum.org | ||
The Global Child Forum is a Swedish non-profit foundation, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The organization was initiated by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden in 2009 in an effort to advance children’s rights in support of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Contents
The focus of Global Child Forum’s work is grounded in both the Convention and the 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, and was then called World Child and Youth Forum (WCYF). The name was changed in 2012. WCYF was intended to initially be an independent platform for decision-makers on topics pertaining to children’s rights and business with the Royal Palace used 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. 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 and brings together 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.
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 three regional forums, one in the Middle East and North Africa, Southern Africa and Southeast Asia.
Research
The Global Child Forum conducts independent research and case studies. The benchmark reports, written in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, 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. The latest benchmark highlighted how the Nordic region lagged below the global average on children’s rights issues.
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 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 UNICEF.