Held last April 11, 2018, Wednesday, at the Stockholm Royal Palace in Sweden, the 10th Global Child Forum for 2018 was formally opened by the King of Sweden himself, His Majesty King Carl Gustaf XVI. This year’s central discussion was on children’s rights and the role of the business community. Over 300 delegates coming from global companies, financial institutions and major players from different countries like the United Nations (UN) and government, tackled on the impact of business on children.
Children’s Joy Foundation, Inc., represented by Ms. Rosemarie Navallo-Dimagnaong, the Executive Director of CJFI, a reputable child caring institution in the Philippines, was the only delegate from the country for the civil society sector.
King Carl warmly welcomed all the participants who, hand-in-hand, wants to create a better future for the children, as future leaders.
Companies affect children. And therefore, we must let children influence businesses. Leaders in the corporate and financial sectors have a unique opportunity to protect and strengthen children’s rights.- HM King Carl Gustaf XVI… Click To TweetDuring the networking break from 10:25 AM to 12 PM, Ms. Dimagnaong met the acquaintances of the members of the Swedish Royal Family. The Executive Director of CJFI introduced its child welfare programs to prominent proponents of the same cause like Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Sofia. She also had the opportunity to meet with Anna Maria Bildt from the European Parliament whose main areas of activity are on migration, security women, children’s rights, the digital single market, and food issues.
The networking break also served as an opportunity for the CJFI info kits and brochures to be distributed to the delegates who share the same cause as CJFI.
CJFI’s Position on Investing in a Child’s Quality Education
At 1:45 PM in the afternoon, the group was divided into four Action Labs, running in parallel sessions.
ActionLab 1 – Corporate Impact on Community and Environment: Ensuring children’s well-being around supply chains and operations.
ActionLab 2 – The Business Case for Investing in Quality Education: Finding opportunities for impact.
ActionLab 3 – Speaking up: Young people’s participation in business decision-making.
ActionLab 4 – An Integrated Response to Child Labour: Turning supply chain challenges into mutual opportunities.
Ms. Dimagnaong, joined the second Action Labs and presented a position paper entitled, “Fulfilling the Mission of Love and Compassion through the Gift of Education”.
Download CJFI’s 10th Global Forum Position Paper
In this paper, a preview of the political and societal landscape in the Philippines was provided, particularly the economic inequality and poor education access of children and youth. Thus, making the gap between the rich and the poor in the country wider and wider with every administration that takes over. This is where Children’s Joy Foundation, Inc. comes in by spearheading a number of nutritional feeding implementations and providing computer education to over 10,000 beneficiaries.
The paper presented more than just the programs and ongoing implementations of CJFI. It presented the vision of the founder of Children’s Joy Foundation, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, which sprouted two decades ago when he saw the plight of the poor Filipino children. Since then, he made a promise that if the Almighty Father blesses his ministry, he will dedicate a bulk of that blessing just to make sure that no child goes to bed with an empty stomach.
Child’s Rights Advocates Inspired the Audience in GCF2018
Speaking before the Global Child Forum delegates in the Royal Palace of Stockholm was Lise Kingo, CEO of UN Global Sustainability Initiative, Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. She operates a foundation giving children a voice in the society called Missing Chapter Foundation.
Two youth workers from Indonesia, Fauza Ananda and Ruth Kesia, also moved the crowd to tears with their experiences of child labor. From their stories, one can tell that these children won’t be able to regain back an experience of growing up and enjoying life as a child.
Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria ended the day with a speech regarding the United Nation’s 17 global goals all related to children’s rights.
One thing has become increasingly clear to me. Children’s rights are not just part of the Global Goals, children’s rights are what the Global Goals are all about.- Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria #gcforum18 @GCForum Click To Tweet Written by: Rodney Z.