Building a Child-Friendly ASEAN with Child Rights Champions

In May and June 2021, The Centre collaborated with the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) of Ateneo De Manila University to deliver an online training seminar for representatives of business entities in the Philippines, with a focus on the Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP). Companies spanning a wide range of sectors were invited to attend, including marketing, information technology, tourism, garment and textile and mining, among others. This training was part of a programme entitled “Building a Child-Friendly ASEAN”, initiated by AHRC in 2017 in partnership with Save the Children Philippines with the aim of raising awareness on CRBP and creating opportunities for collaboration both among the private sector and the government.

The Centre facilitated the training session on the CRBP and held a workshop on how to conduct child rights impact assessments. The training covered topics on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ten CRBP principles, and its relevance to the different business practices, operations, activities, and programmes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of online digital platforms. During the workshop on child rights impact assessment, The Centre shared the business case of why companies should engage in this initiative and how the assessment is done e.g. its methodology, focus and risks area and how it may benefit companies, and how to define key action plans to tackle the child rights risks in their supply chain.

Furthermore, on August 20, 2021, our CEO, Ines Kaempfer will be speaking on “Including Children in the Business Chain” where she will discuss our Young Workers Inclusion Programme, a business model and practice that ensures children above the minimum age for employment are provided decent, non-discriminative and protective work that will not harm their health, safety, or morals and ensures that their rights to develop to their full potential are promoted and protected.