Event 29/11/16
CEO round table on children’s rights
Are children’s rights any concern of your business? Yes – and maybe more than you might think. In order to create and raise awareness among companies about this, the Belgian Committee for Children’s Rights & Business Principles (CRBP) organised on the 29th of November a hands-on workshop and an exclusive CEO round table.
Children’s rights are not just a matter for policy-makers, the government and NGOs. Companies also play an important role when it comes to protecting these rights. In fact, the VBO is convinced that respecting children and their rights is part of every entrepreneur’s social responsibility. The federation helps convince entrepreneurs that it is vital to invest in children’s rights for a sustainable future and society.
Companies that help build a healthy and strong society and a sustainable and inclusive market thus also contribute to a sustainable and better business climate and entrepreneurship. This also improves their image, their brand and their attractiveness as an employer.
Raising awareness and best practices
And yet too many companies are still unaware of how vital their role can be. Every parent is concerned about his or her children’s welfare, but as soon as that parent puts on a company hat, children’s rights no longer seem to be a burning platform. “Our ambition is to promote Children’s Rights & Business Principles with CEOs and encourage them to incorporate these principles in their company strategy, business activities and corporate culture,” says the VBO’s general manager, Bart Buysse. “Currently the committee’s greatest challenge is to raise awareness and inspire CEOs.”
The more specific, the better. That is why the CRBP committee gathered “its” member companies for a round table with the CEOs of interested large and smaller companies. “Exchanging best practices is the best way to open the eyes of our fellow CEOs and encourage them to take action. Children’s rights affect us all more than we know and sooner or later every company will in one way or another come into contact with children or children’s rights. That said, many companies have already intuitively taken action. Every company can do something, regardless of its size.”
Organising workshops is another way of raising CEOs’ awareness in a hands-on way. There companies “learn” how they can take very targeted action that benefits children based on the 10 “Children’s Rights & Business Principles” <link to http://childrenandbusiness.be/home/onze-10-principes/>. And sometimes they don’t actually have to look that far. Action can be taken on the workfloor, in the markets and in the community where they actively do business. Always in a customised way, of course, and in line with the company’s possibilities and activities. And without every initiative costing an arm and a leg. The main thing is to ensure that this dimension becomes part of the company’s DNA without too much effort.
