To Serve and Protect
Managing director of Global Child Forum, Åse Bäckström shares with Petrina Anthony about the movement that respects children’s rights
Children are our future, and we see their growth as a pathway in making the world a better place. Which is why the Global Child Forum, an organisation initiated by the Swedish Royal family, continuously organises global and regional forums for businesses to discuss prospects to create attention for the benefit of children. In their first visit to Southeast Asia, following a stream of research and networking activities last year, their goal is to build and encourage partnerships from various sectors of organisations. Since 2009, Global Child Forum has conducted eight forums, with the ASEAN chapter being the third outside of Sweden, following the Middle East and northern Africa in 2014 and southern Africa in 2015. The main purpose of the forums is for countries to implement child-friendly policies, address children’s rights and advocate change. In Malaysia, child labour is still an issue and special attention is needed for children to have access to education and healthcare. In conjunction with the forum, our government has amended the Child Act— as we previously fell slightly below the global average—to lower the risk of sexual exploitation as well as ensure product safety, responsible marketing and proper sanitation. Moreover, digital programmes online should consider children’s location, economic status, gender and physical incompetency.