Forum for Social Innovation Sweden is launching Forum for Social Innovation Sweden new series of discussions:Innovations and Collaboration for Children’s Rights – The Convention on the Rights of the Child and Agenda 2030 in Practice. The first session will take place on June 9, 2020. You can register today.
Today in Sweden, there are many methods, programs, and initiatives—innovations—designed to ensure that children’s rights are upheld. These innovations, which lead to the realization of children’s rights, are referred to here as “children’s rights innovations.” We find them in the form of child impact assessments and children’s budgets in the public sector; in the form of child-led walking tours in academia; as homework help and digital after-school programs in the nonprofit sector; and finally, as assistive devices for children with disabilities provided by companies so that children can participate on equal terms.
Many children are not having their rights met
At the same time, it is clear that many children in Sweden are not having their rights met: half of all young people feel excluded from society and cite difficulties in influencing their local community and attending high school (MUCF’s report *Fokus 18 – Vilka ska med?*), while approximately 9% live in child poverty in Sweden (Save the Children’s Child Poverty Report 2018).
These societal challenges to creating a sustainable and child-friendly society have become even more pressing during the current pandemic, as the debate over school closures revealed that many children would then be deprived of the majority of their daily food intake—school lunches—while the existing issue of overcrowding among families with children poses a significant risk of infection.
Key themes of the discussion series
The topics that will therefore be addressed in the discussion series are: How can we create safe public outdoor environments for and with children and young people? What can a child rights perspective on mobility contribute to development? What innovations can be developed for sustainable food production when viewed from a child rights perspective? What new partnerships can ensure housing for children and young people without overcrowding or homelessness?
Innovations in children's rights put the 2030 Agenda and the Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice
We at Forum for Social Innovation Sweden now Forum for Social Innovation Sweden this series of discussions to facilitate knowledge sharing and new partnerships across sectors regarding the child rights innovations currently in use and the new value-creating child rights innovations that are needed—innovations designed to generate shared value. The concept of dual benefits—or shared value—is deeply embedded in the UN’s 2030 Agenda, which aims to create an inclusive society with a sustainable economy based on the Earth’s resource capacity. In short: the UN’s 2030 Agenda aims to create multiple values in synergy with one another. Through value-creating children’s rights innovations, the 2030 Agenda and the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be put into practice based on shared responsibility among all sectors of society.
For those working in urban planning, design, or public administration
This series of talks is aimed at those who work in, make decisions about, fund, or have expertise in urban planning, design, or management, and who either want to be inspired or share their knowledge on how these fields can be approached from a child rights perspective.
How to sign up
The event is free of charge. Sign up easily for the first session of the discussion series on June 9.
Contact
Would you like to get in touch with the working group behind the discussion series “Innovations and Collaboration for Children’s Rights”? If so, please send an email to: gloria-karin.lopez@mau.se.