H&M has teamed with the KidsRights Foundation to launch an interactive edutainment platform called State of Youth Kids, an online tool that provides a space for kids aged 6 to 12 to learn about their rights, the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and grow into the role of changemaker.
The partnership is the retail brand’s extension to its current State of Youth platform which had focused on 13–24-year-olds, and will enable younger children to learn more about their rights, equality, and sustainability. It will also provide opportunities for kids to practice skills with offline challenges that encourage them to create change in real life.
The collaboration with KidsRights represents the next phase of H&M’s global initiative Role Models, which launched in early 2021 to challenge the definition of traditional role models. By amplifying their voices and shining a light on their heroic efforts, the initiative shows how kids around the world are inspiring and helping other children for a better future.
“We’re excited to be collaborating with the KidsRights Foundation on the State of Youth Kids online platform. It’s a wonderful continuation to the journey of H&M’s Role Models initiative – we get to focus on how to truly enable all changemakers out there. Instead of just talking about future, we want to meaningfully support kids’ efforts with a fun learning experience that also builds confidence. Because you’re never too little to dream big and change the world,” said Karin Brinck, Head of Sustainability, H&M Kids
The ?KidsRights Foundation was founded in 2003 by Marc Dullaert. It’s an international children’s aid and advocacy organisation based in Amsterdam that empowers changemakers and demands global attention for children’s rights as set out by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Since 2005, KidsRights has also awarded the annual International Children’s Peace Prize. Past winners include Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg.
“Both KidsRights and H&M believe that children have the right to participate and can move the world in a positive way, improving children’s rights, at home, at school, in their community. In our collaboration we are reaching out to as many kids as possible around the globe, to empower them as future Changemakers”, said Marc Dullaert, founder and chairman of KidsRights Foundation.
