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Even in supposedly “normal,” stable, and peaceful settings, children confront a silent emergency of extreme poverty, inequality, abuse, and exploitation, some of it in the name of religion. Gender-based discrimination, especially affecting girls, or harmful traditional practices such as the continuing prevalence of child marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting are examples of harmful practices that faith communities have a special role in preventing.
The GNRC Sixth Forum takes place as children around the world are facing infringement of their basic rights on multiple fronts. Over 460 million children are living in conflict zones. They face not only imminent danger to their lives, but also a highly uncertain future with the trust between them and the systems that should nurture them at breaking point or having broken already.
Additionally, ongoing energy, food, economic and climate crises are posing unprecedented challenges for children. With 47 percent of children already severely deprived before COVID-19, the pandemic pushed an additional 150 million children into multidimensional poverty. Alongside this, the number of displaced children is at a historic high. According to UNICEF, at the end of 2022, 43.3 million children had been displaced due to violent conflict and poverty-triggered migrations. By January 2024, that number had grown dramatically to 51.2 million — the steepest rise ever seen in one year due to the sharp increase of new conflicts and intensification of existing wars.
Despite these extremely concerning trends, hope is still the right choice, the only choice, and a credible choice. We live in a time of great innovation and advancement. By leveraging these advancements, fostering dialogue and cooperation between faiths and across generations, and joining hands to address the evils of our age, we not only can but must rebuild trust and repair broken pathways to forge a safe, secure, and sustainable world.
The primary objective of the Forum is to bring together GNRC members, diverse religious leaders, children, youth, policymakers, academics, representatives from child-focused NGOs, and members of faith communities to deliberate, collaborate, exchange best practices, and forge new action commitments to address global issues concerning children.
Specifically, the Forum presents a much-needed platform for:
Provide a space for authentic and effective collaboration between and among children and adults from diverse regions and religions.
Put a spotlight on the critical situation of the world’s children and reaffirm our commitment to addressing these present-day realities in the spirit of the GNRC.
Demonstrate the unique contributions as well as clear and tangible actions that religious communities and their ethical values can make to address the challenges children face.
Build upon the transformative agenda, initiatives, actions, and expertise of Forum participants to shape new collaborative action for, and with, children.
Strengthen the GNRC and celebrate nearly 25 years of interfaith cooperation.
Launch the GNRC Strategic Plan for 2025 – 2030.
Build synergies, and develop new strategic partnerships that will support the scaling up of key programs for children.
The overall theme of the Forum, The Child is Calling: Interfaith Cooperation to Build a Hopeful World for Children, aims to ensure that the Forum is relevant, addresses current issues, and that the focus is fixed on eliciting hope and authentic participation from children in building a better world. The “Child is Calling” conveys the heart of what brings people together for the GNRC Sixth Forum and focuses us on answering the call of the child with concrete actions.
Addressing issues around the dignity of the child in the digital world; the vital role of families and collaborative communities; and pathways to building resilience and strengthening mental health in the face of global shocks, emerging crises, and pandemics.
Addressing root causes of conflicts, wars, xenophobia, hate crimes and extremism; stakeholder participation in building resilience to conflict; the impact of conflict and war on children; and building a peaceful and inclusive world for, and with, children.
Addressing responsible lifestyles; hunger, child poverty, and inequality; ethical values and education for sustainable development; and climate-conscious stewardship.