Global Child Forum opens their Business Academy – a children’s rights and business accelerator for the Tech & Telecom sector

Stockholm, Sweden, 23 November 2021

Stockholm-based Global Child Forum announced today the launch of their newest program, The Business Academy,  designed to be a children’s rights and business accelerator helping companies focus on their children’s rights risks and opportunities, supported with peer-to-peer learning.

Despite increased attention on risks and adverse impacts of business operations on children’s rights, many challenges and obstacles still hamper a company’s uptake of the children’s rights agenda. In order to fast-track this process among the Tech & Telecom sector, Global Child Forum has designed 6-month program for a select group of companies who have an established program around sustainability and human rights and are now looking to fully integrate a children’s rights perspective.

Participating companies include Samsung, Elisa, Vodafone, Millicom, Uber, Safaricom, Telkom and Deutsche Telekom among others. The programme focuses on peer-to-peer networking and collaboration in order to solve real problems together and with inspiration from companies who have come some way in their journey.

“We’re excited to launch this program with such a stellar list of participating companies joining our inaugural Business Academy,” said Cajsa Wiking, Secretary General of Global Child Forum. “The Tech & Telecom sector plays an enormous positive role in children’s lives but easy access to the internet and associated technologies also pose significant risks to children’s rights – both offline and online. We hope that by the end of this programme, participating companies will have gained a deeper understanding of the risks presented while at the same time uncovering innovative solutions that lead to positive opportunities for children.”

“As a company which placed child rights at the core of our ESG strategy and vision, we  look forward to participating in Global Child Forum´s Business Academy,” said Millicom’s Mauricio Arce León, Corporate Responsibility Manager Latam. “We see this as an invaluable opportunity to share best practices and experiences from some of the top performing companies on child rights while learning new insights from the Academy´s experts.”

In 2021, Global Child Forum initiated a specific focus on the technology and telecom sector as various challenges and opportunities, related to children’s rights, have emerged in this sector during the pandemic. The aim of the Business Academy is to engage and inspire companies to tackle pressing issues related to children’s rights in their sector, promote collaboration and provide opportunities to share best practice around common challenges.

Topics covered will be business-critical issues, linking these to children’s rights perspectives and highlighting the potential for both negative and positive impact on children’s lives. These issues will also be clearly linked to other sustainability perspectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals. The programme launches on 23 November.

For more information on the programme, please contact josefin.bf@globalchildforum.org or sara.garmer@globalchildforum.org.