Building Resilience in Vulnerable Children
19
th
November 2019
Draft Agenda
Vulnerable children are diverse, but they all experience high levels of adversity that challenge their capacity to
develop and to thrive. Helping vulnerable children to build resilience requires investing in protective factors, such
as quality early learning environments and stronger support networks. These factors allow children to benefit from
positive experiences, form key capabilities and access resources in favour of good outcomes, even when facing
substantial risks. Resilience building is not a singular policy intervention, but an across-childhood approach to
intervening on the multiple situations affecting child well-being. Even for the most vulnerable children, there are
inroads situated at the individual, family, community and school levels.
9:00-9:30
Opening remarks and report launch of
Changing the Odds for Vulnerable Children:
Building Opportunities and Resilience
Mr. Ángel Gurría, Secretary-General to the OECD
Ms. Gabriela Ramos, Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, OECD
9:30-10:15
Keynote Addresses
HRH Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands and Founder of Stichting Lezen & Schrijven (the Reading and
Writing Foundation) (confirmed)
Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Founder of the Satyarthi Foundation (confirmed)
10:15- 11:45
Panel Session 1: How do we build better policies for vulnerable children?
Vulnerable children contend with a hold of host of adversities that they must overcome if they are to do well. Some
of these are individual to the child, like a having a disability, but many come from the family and the local community.
Together, they can
overwhelm children’s ability to cope. What are the key policies needed to
support vulnerable
children and their families? Are there certain times in a child’s life when interventions are more important?
Is what
happens in the local community more important than what happens at home?
Scene Setter/ Moderator:
Ms. Gabriela Ramos, Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, OECD
Speakers:
Mr. Alfonso Lara Montero, Director of the European Social Network (confirmed)
Ms. Anne Hollonds, Director of the Australian Institute for Family Studies (confirmed)
Ms. Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General, Eurochild (confirmed)
Mr. Aloysius John, Secretary General, Cartias International (invited)
11:45-13:00
skills?
Panel Session 2: How do we support children in building strong emotional and social
Childhood mental health can be adversely affected by multiple and sometimes overlapping factors: rising wealth
and income inequalities, weakening family structures and support networks, internet and social media effect,
perceived inferior social status, poor body image, and high academic pressures. The evidence tells us that most
mental health difficulties emerge in childhood and interventions work best when they are timely and child-centred.