22 March 2013 - World Child & Youth Forum 2013

The World Child & Youth Forum (a registered charitable trust) was established in Stockholm, Sweden in 2009. Its aim is to be an independent multi-stakeholder platform that inspires to realise the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The third annual Forum will take place on March 22 (by invitation only) at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden with the theme ”Children’s Rights – Any of Your Business?”. 300 participants from every sector in society will attend, over 60% of which represent business.

The World Child & Youth Forum is a catalyst to facilitate cross sector dialogue and partnerships for the protection and fulfillment of children’s rights. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles were launched in March 2012 and the forum will include a stock taking event on global achievements and challenges so far. The program also covers the recently-adopted General Comment by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights. Business’ role in youth employment and access to clean water and sanitation will be discussed in the afternoon.

Speakers include Lord Michael Hastings, International Director of Corporate Citizenship, KPMG; Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact; Jasmine Whitbread, CEO, Save the Children; Nigel Chapman, CEO, Plan International; Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Mikael Ohlsson, CEO, IKEA Group; Chris Avery, Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; Marta Maurás, Former vice chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; and Laura Turner Seydel. Director, Turner Foundation.

6 February 2013 - UN Committee on the Rights of the Child UN Committee on the Rights of the Child adopts General Comment No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights

In February 2013, the Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted a General Comment on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children's rights. It is the first UN human rights treaty body to address this issue directly in a General Comment.

The General Comment provides States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child with guidance on the nature and scope of their obligations under the Convention to respect, protect and fulfil child rights in the context of the impact of business activities. It provides States with a framework for implementing the Convention with regard to the business sector in key areas, including on how States should ensure that the activities and operations of business enterprises do not adversely impact on children’s rights; how to create an enabling and supportive environment for business enterprises to respect children’s rights including across any business relationships linked to their operations, products or services and across their global operations; and, how to ensure access to effective remedy for children whose rights have been infringed by a business enterprise.

The General Comment considers the relationship between State obligations regarding business activities and the Convention, it examines the scope of obligations in contexts where the impact of business operations on children´s rights is most significant, and it outlines a framework for implementation, addressing specifically the media and communications industry where relevant.

In developing the General Comment, the Committee consulted and discussed widely over the course of two years, including through public calls for online submissions, multi-stakeholder consultations, consultations with children in several countries, and an International Symposium in Sion, Switzerland in October 2012.

26 January 2013 - UNICEF Platform on Business and Children’s Rights in Sweden

Following the release of the Children’s Rights and Business Principles in March 2012, the Swedish Committee for UNICEF launched a two-year corporate platform to engage Swedish companies on the implementation of the Principles using the draft due diligence tools developed by UNICEF. The platform is comprised of a series of ten workshops focused on helping companies better 4 understand how to fulfill their responsibility to respect and support children’s rights. The workshops are comprised of trainings and group exercises focused on: 1) the business and human rights landscape; 2) each of the ten Principles and the implications for business; and 3) piloting UNICEF’s due diligence tools, which will be finalised later this year.

More than 20 companies are participating in the platform, each of them representing more than $1 billion in annual turnover. The workshops provide an interactive learning environment through which participants share information and lessons learned on good and worst practices related to implementing the Principles. Already, some of the participants have started to incorporate a child rights perspective into their human rights due diligence processes by initiating child rights impact assessments and reviewing existing company policies to integrate relevant child rights components.