Ten years has passed by since H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden founded World Childhood Foundation. A lot has happened since then, but there is still a lot of work to be done. In this interview Queen Silvia tells the story of how it once started, and how she will continue working for vulnerable children.

The article was written in spring 2009

It feels both remarkable and wonderful that Childhood is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, says Queen Silvia:

“It has been a long, but yet a short journey. We have been working very hard and I am proud that Childhood has been able to help many vulnerable children in the world to a better future.”

On state visits, as well as on less official trips, the Queen during many years observed numerous children living under extremely difficult situations. A feeling grew in her that she wanted to do something for these children.

“I came to a point where I asked myself what I could do to help children at risk. Because of my position, I am able to reach out to people who have the power to change children’s situations”, the Queen says.

Started in Brazil
Queen Silvia started talking to friends, people in the corporate sector, and politicians in Brazil. She discovered many Brazilian companies who already were taking a social responsibility through different social projects.

“I told them I thought it would be a good idea to work together in this area, because you are so much stronger as a group working for the same cause. Suddenly everyone was looking at me, saying I should coordinate the work.”

The first step towards creating World Childhood Foundation was taken. Queen Silvia continued in Stockholm, where she invited several companies to a seminar. A number of them were interested in participating, and in the end 14 companies and family foundations became co-founders of Childhood and donated 1 MUSD each.

“Our aim was to build a strong foundation, and that the revenue would cover all administrative costs. That way, all raised funds can be used strictly for the children. It is very important for me that the funds are used for the children and in the right way, as it is a great responsibility to manage donations from private individuals and companies.”

Childhood’s partners make it possible
When Childhood was started, another important condition was that the foundation shouldn´t compete with already existing Swedish organisations working for the rights of children. Instead of raising funds among the private public, Childhood therefore reached out to the corporate sector in search of partners. Over the years, Childhood has built a strong network with Swedish and international companies. As Major Partners, Volvo Cars Sweden, ICA, and Vattenfall have contributed both with funds and through spreading knowledge about Childhood.

“Corporate social responsibility was a fairly unknown concept ten years ago, and Childhood was one of the first organisations working together with companies in this way. The co-operation with our corporate partners not only means funding but also gives us access to their networks of clients and employees”, says Queen Silvia.

Without the support from co-founders and corporate partners, Childhood would never have become a reality, stresses the Queen.

“I would like to sincerely thank all partners of Childhood, they have simply been amazing!” she says.

Focus on girls important
The goal of Childhood was from the beginning to allow children to be children. Childhood is committed to protecting children’s rights to a safe and secure childhood, and to work for better living conditions for children at risk all over the world. In many situations, girls are more vulnerable than boys. Girls often need extra attention to be protected against neglect, abuse and commercial sexual exploitation, and to start believing in a future filled with possibilities. Because of this, Childhood from the start has put a special focus on girls.

“The situation for girls varies a lot in different countries. In some countries for example, girls are not allowed to go to school and are difficult to reach. Many girls are very lonely, also in Sweden. Enter Meeting Point, which is run by Stockholm City Mission and supported by Childhood, is one of the organisations working with girls in difficult situations. It is important for Childhood to keep its focus on girls, however, we do support projects targeting boys as well.”, says Queen Silvia.

A growing respect for children’s rights
Ten or fifteen years ago not many people knew how to approach or talk about trafficking, exploitation, and abuse of children for sexual purposes. The international congress on commercial sexual exploitation of children, which was held in Stockholm in 1996, made a strong impression on Queen Silvia and was one of the reasons for starting Childhood.

“Today, I see a completely different attitude towards children’s right to be protected against all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

Several, of the more than 500 projects Childhood has supported since 1999, has contributed to raising knowledge about children’s rights. When for example 300 Russian police officers were trained to detect reasons for children’s criminal activities, it created a fundamental change in making the authorities treat children as children, not as adults.

“Several countries simply find it troublesome when children are living under unacceptable circumstances. In many places, where earlier it was considered impossible to work with children’s issues, we have seen a positive change in both attitude and behavior. Many have started to see children as individuals with rights, as human beings who need support and help to find their place in society.” Says Queen Silvia.

The “fire souls” are Childhood’s real heroes
As often as she can, the Queen visits projects supported by Childhood in Sweden as well as abroad.

“It is important because our interest give attention to the people working within the projects. Through close visits we create a relationship with the staff which makes it possible to support them but also to monitor how Childhood’s donations are being used.” she says.

“The real heroes within Childhood are what we call the “fire souls”; the individuals who tirelessly run the projects around the world, who have the ideas and who carry out the work that helps children every day. Without them, there would not be a Childhood.” the Queen continues.

Support makes a difference
During the years Queen Silvia has been working with Childhood, she has many times been amazed by the enormous healing power of children. Seeing children who have been through awful experiences regain hope of a bright future is wonderful and the Korczak Centre in St Petersburg is one of several projects who has left a strong impression on the Queen. At the centre, young mothers who have grown up in institutions, receive psychological and social support through home visits from social workers. These mothers live in very socially vulnerable situations, and the risk of child maltreatment and abandonment is imminent.

“These girls never experienced family life or learned to give or receive affection, they have little knowledge in cooking, how to keep a budget, and they don´t know how to play with their children. This makes it difficult for them to take care of and give love to their own children. To see how these girls suddenly were able to give their babies what they themselves never had was wonderful. That is what the Korczak Centre accomplished”, says Queen Silvia.

After nine years of co-operation with the Korczak Centre, Childhood is now slowly withdrawing its support. Thanks to the funding from authorities in St Petersburg, the centre is able to manage without Childhood.

“This is always our goal; to keep sustainability in mind from the beginning and support projects until they don´t need us anymore” says Queen Silvia.

Children and the internet
Internet related abuse of children is a matter of deep concern for Queen Silvia at the moment. Since a few years back, Childhood is supporting a number of projects aiming to gather knowledge about how children are affected by online related abuse, such as the Onlineproject in the Swedish town of Linköping. Some of the projects are also using internet as a tool to reach out to children at risk and support them.

Queen Silvia is concerned about how many parents are unaware of what their children are doing on the internet, and how they can protect them from abuse. “I would like to encourage all parents to find out how their children are using the internet” she says.

On September 17th, Childhood will be arranging a seminar in Stockholm on children and the internet to discuss how internet can be used in assisting children at risk. The aim is to highlight the possibilities and advantages the internet brings when it comes to helping children, instead of sticking to the threatening picture which often dominates the media.

Raising knowledge about children’s rights
This year, the UN convention on the rights of the child is celebrating its 20 year anniversary. Together with a group of other Swedish organizations working for children’s rights, the Queen and Childhood are working intensively to raise knowledge about the convention among children and adults in Sweden.

“Both adults and children need to know about children’s rights, and most of all: adults need to respect them” says Queen Silvia.

Childhood will continue to work for children who are forgotten and left behind to give them the chance of a bright future. Ten years has passed, but there is a lot of work to be done. Queen Silvia will not slow down working to improve the situation of vulnerable children in the world, although her highest whish is that she did not need to.

“When we started, my dream was that Childhood, or other organizations working for the benefit of children would not be needed for too long, and that children who live in unacceptable and abusive circumstances soon would have a better life. But we are still needed and I will continue working with Childhood just as intensely, as diligently, and as engaged as before. And who knows, perhaps we will not have to celebrate our 20th anniversary?”

MAJA SVENONIUS

ABOUT CHILDHOOD
Target groups: Street children, children living in institutions, sexually abused children, young mothers and girls as risk.
Starting point: The work of Childhood is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Number of projects: About 110. Since the start, Childhood has supported more than 500 projects in 16 countries.
Project countries: Brazil, Estonia, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Sweden, South Africa, Thailand, Germany, Ukraine and the United States.
Project support: Since 1999, Childhood has donated more than 300 million Swedish crowns to projects.
Foundations: In addition to the Foundation in Sweden, Childhood is also present in Brazil, Germany and the United States. All Foundations raise funds and administer local projects in their respective countries. All Childhood projects, domestic as well as international, are reviewed and approved by the Swedish Foundation.
Number of employees: 18
SFI and FRII: Childhood has since the start had a so called 90-account and is member of SFI, Foundation for Donation Controls, and FRII, Agency of Volunteer Fundraising Organizations. Childhood is committed to act within the ethical stipulations of these two agencies.