INTERVIEW WITH ULF KARLBERG – CHAIRMAN OF THE WORLD YOUTH & CHILD FORUM
Swedish Press: What does your organization set out to achieve?
It all begins with the children
[ [ By Anton Fredriksson
Ulf Karlberg: The purpose of our organization is to establish a forum for world leaders, business, governments, NGOs, children’s rights organizations and the UN system among others, to really approach children’s rights issues in an effective and result-oriented way. We are like an information and communication platform for the world. Why children? Why is it so important for business to embrace this idea of incorporating children’s rights into their practices? I think that there are two reasons for this. One is that, anyone that seriously wants to talk about sustainability has to start with child issues. Sustainability by definition is not compromising the
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December 2013 / January 2014 16
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t this year’s UN Global Compact Leaders Summit held in New York, leaders from around the world in government, business and wider society came together to discuss a new framework for corporate sustainability. Swedes including Volvo’s Hans-Olov Olsson and UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, were out in full force, learning from the best while sharing their success stories. One such Swede, Ulf Karlberg, the Chairman of the World Child & Youth Forum, led the conference on Children’s Rights and Business Principles. Following his presentation, Swedish Press sat down with Ulf Karlberg to discuss the important work his organization is spearheading.
world for future generations, whether it’s environmental, human rights or anything else, therefore if we want to be serious about sustainability we have to include child rights into that process from very early on.
The second reason, is that if you want to talk about human rights as an essential part of sustainability, clearly the starting point must be future generations – our children. It’s not controversial and their rights are not negotiable. Everyone has in principle been a child or has children of their own so it’s an issue that is easy for anyone to understand and it’s a good starting point for anyone who wants to take action regarding human rights. What about the role of Sweden? Do you find that your Swedish background comes in handy with your position? How is Sweden taking a leadership role in this field? I think that’s a good question and the answer is yes. Sweden has been at the forefront historically regarding human rights issues. We were one of the first countries in the world to sign the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
