Photo : WCYF/ Johan Lygrell
Children's rights - any of your business?
On Friday March 22, the third World Child & Youth Forum took place, in presence of the Swedish Royal family and the Prime minister of Sweden. 350 participants were at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. 60 per cent came from the corporate sector and 40 per cent from governments, civil society and multilateral institutions.
Initial discussions concerning the importance on getting issues concerning children's rights and business principals mainstream and that protecting children's rights is mandatory. Results of a global survey on business and children were presented by Johan Öberg, Managing Partner, The Boston Consulting Group, Sweden.
The results show that CEOs rank children's rights the least prioritized among six major sustainability areas. Still, 9 out of 10 CEOs claim to address children's rights in at least one way – but few take actions related to the core business.
BCG global report
BCG Global CEO Study on Children's Rights 2013 Report
BCG Presentation at WCYF Global CEO study 2013 22 mars
Swedish Media on the Forum:
Swedish National TV
Swedish National Radio
SHORT FILM - FORUM 2013
KEY SPEAKER COMMENTS - FORUM 2013
IMAGES FROM THE FORUM
Photographer: Jonas Borg
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WORLD CHILD & YOUTH FORUM 2013
The third World Child & Youth Forum was held 22 March 2013 at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The year's theme was Children's Rights – any of your business? Over 350 participants from international business, civil society and government attended the forum.
The UN Global Compact Children’s Rights and Business Principles were launched in March 2012 and the forum was a stock taking event on global achievements and challenges so far. The program also covered the General Comment from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the obligation of States on the Impact of Business on Children’s Rights. Business role for youth employment and access to clean water and sanitation was discussed in the afternoon. Speakers included Lord Michael Hastings, KPMG; Georg Kell, Executive Director UN Global Compact, Jasmine Whitbread, CEO of Save the Children, Nigel Chapman, CEO of Plan International, Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, Mikael Ohlsson, CEO of the IKEA Group, Chris Avery, Director Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; Marta Mauras, Former vice chair of the CRC; and Laura Turner Seydel, Director of the Turner Foundation.
Click here to see the Program for WCYF 2013
Photo : WCYF/ Johan Lygrell
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THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRC)
A convention is an agreement between countries that each country can decide whether to follow or not. In the case of the CRC, many countries have agreed that children have their own human rights. Sweden was one of the first countries in the world that decided to support the CRC.
The CRC establishes several important principles; four of them are called core principles. All articles of the CRC are linked with each other. They should influence all decisions affecting one or more children. The four core principles can be found in Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12.
Article 2: Every child has the right to grow up without being subjected to various forms of discrimination.
Article 3: Every child has the right to grow up in an environment where adults are sure to find out what lays in the best interest of the child before making decisions affecting the child.
Article 6: Every child has the right to survive and develop.
Article 12: Children have the right to participate, be informed and have the opportunity to express their opinion in situations where adults make decisions that directly or indirectly influence or affect the child.
Click here to read the CRC
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