Photo: Jonas Borg / GCF
"Taking children seriously": Carl Gustaf, Silvia and Sofia
The King and Queen and Princess Sofia hosted the Global Child Forum in the Bernadotte Library at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The forum was founded by the Swedish royal family in 2009 and brings together chief executives and investors to discuss children’s rights in business.
King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Princess Sofia hosted the Global Child Forum in the Bernadotte Library at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on Tuesday. The forum brings together chief executives, board chairs and investors from around the world to discuss how business affects children's rights.
"Taking children seriously"
The King opened the day with a speech, stressing that there are rarely easy answers when competing interests have to be weighed against each other.
"Not every decision will be easy and not every interest can be satisfied. But taking children seriously means listening to their perspectives and considering the long-term impact of our actions," he said.
A new report on children's rights
The report "The State of Children's Rights and Business 2026" was launched at the forum. It measures how far companies actually take children into account in their operations, and participants were given a presentation of the findings.
Another theme was how business can create value by investing in the next generation. Participants were divided into action labs, working groups in which they were to challenge one another and find practical solutions rather than settle for good intentions.
Founded by the royal family in 2009
Global Child Forum is a Swedish non-profit foundation, set up by the royal family in 2009. Since then it has regularly gathered leaders from business, civil society, academia and government.
This year the forum coincided with the King turning 80, and with 17 years of the royal family standing behind the work.
The Queen's call
Queen Silvia closed the forum with a speech asking participants to make it more than a good day at the palace.
"Tomorrow, we will return to our everyday responsibilities. Let us make sure that today's discussions do not end here but translate into action and lasting impact," she said.