Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, President of Arigatou International and Convenor of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), joined other global leaders and participants at the Solutions Summit convened by the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children held in Stockholm, Sweden on 14th and 15th February 2018. During the Summit, three hundred and eighty six (386) participants including global leaders, representatives from the United Nations, government officials, civil society organizations, the private sector and children and youth from 67 countries across the world affirmed their commitment to work together to end violence against children. The Proclamation issued at the Summit is available here.

Among the contributions of Arigatou International shared at the Summit was the GNRC 5th Forum, held on 9–11 May 2017 in Panama City, Panama, attended by 526 participants. In this Forum, leaders and members of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions, girls and boys, women and men, from 70 countries, together with representatives of governments, the United Nations, as well as international and grassroots organizations, affirmed their commitment to end violence in the Panama Declaration on Ending Violence Against Children.

While at the Summit, Rev. Miyamoto touched on the follow-up to the GNRC 5th Forum in Panama, which focused on the role of faith communities in ending violence against children, with leaders from key partners, including Dr. Susan Bissell, Founding Director of the Global Partnership; Ms. Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Violence Against Children; Ms. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF and Rev. Dr. Olav Fikse-Tveit, Secretary General, World Council of Churches .

Prior to the Summit, on February 13, 2018, Rev. Miyamoto participated in the Governing Board Meeting of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, which was hosted by H.E. Asa Regner, Minister for Children, the Elderly and Gender Equality of Sweden.

The visit provided an excellent opportunity to further strengthen the partnerships that will be critical for bringing an end to violence against children everywhere by 2030.