This article is related to the event Ring the Bell for Children 2026 held in November 2026.
This October marks six years since UNICEF Finland and Finsif organized our very first webinar on investing and children’s rights. At the time, however, Child-Lens Investing as we know it today was still years away from taking shape. The field was nascent with around 20 pioneering participants joining the webinar to explore the connection between investing and children’s rights.
Back then, we spoke about companies’ responsibility to respect children’s rights and the role investors could play in driving change. While awareness of children’s rights in business was growing, investor-specific guidance remained limited, with only the very first UNICEF Investor Guidance document from 2019 serving as a practical starting point.
It is incredible to think how far we have come from those days! Child-Lens Investing has reached a pivotal stage in its development, with the focus shifting from raising awareness to embedding children’s rights and wellbeing into mainstream investment practice.
At its core, Child-Lens Investing means intentionally considering how investment decisions affect children. It encourages investors to advance positive outcomes for children while minimising harm. UNICEF developed the Child-Lens Investing Framework in collaboration with more than 100 stakeholders across the sustainable finance ecosystem, with invaluable support from the Government of Finland.
Since then, the focus has increasingly shifted towards helping investors put this approach into practice. First, our understanding of Child-Lens Investing has grown considerably, as has the guidance available to investors. In 2026 alone, UNICEF developed tailored guidance helping investors conduct stewardship for children’s rights, Child-Lens Investing in listed equity, investing in child online safety and well being, and most recently, guidance on applying a child lens alongside gender lens investing (in collaboration with 2X Global).
We are no longer asking whether Child-Lens Investing is possible, but how it can best be applied. Investors now have a stronger foundation to understand children’s rights and needs, as well as a clearer understanding of how a child lens can complement responsible and impact investing approaches. In many cases, it is not about creating something entirely new but about strengthening existing investment practices with a child’s perspective.
Finland has also played a key role in moving Child-Lens Investing from theory into practice. For example, Finnfund has demonstrated how children’s rights can be incorporated into investment decision-making, rather than treated as a standalone issue. It has done this by integrating a child lens into its Digital Access Impact Fund and investment due diligence.
Another example of Child-Lens Investing in action comes from Dutch-based Triodos Investment Management. Triodos applies Child-Lens Investing through its Future Generations strategy, which uses UNICEF’s Child-Lens Investing framework to identify companies that contribute to children’s wellbeing.
This shift is also gaining momentum in the wider investment ecosystem, including among stock market players. The announcement of a partnership between UNICEF and the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative marked an important step in this journey. Together, the aim is to inspire stock exchanges, investors and listed companies to place children at the heart of their sustainability strategies. An international advisory group, co-chaired by Henrik Husman, President of Nasdaq Helsinki, is helping shape this work.
Alongside this effort to engage the wider market, investors themselves are helping advance the discussion. In spring 2026, UNICEF Finland and UNICEF Sweden hosted a series of Child-Lens Investing Talks, bringing together investors from around the world. The talks explored the state of Child-Lens Investing, the support investors need, and existing practices that could inspire others. The series included discussions on public equity, investor stewardship and measuring child-related impact.
A key message from these discussions was that children’s rights can be financially material and strategically relevant, and that integration is practical and already underway. At the same time, gaps remain, including limitations in available data. Addressing these challenges, and advancing Child-Lens Investing more broadly, will require collaboration between investors, companies, stock exchanges, policymakers and civil society.
A timely opportunity to continue this discussion will be the Ring the Bell for Children 2026 event hosted by UNICEF, Nasdaq Helsinki, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Finsif, the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UNSSE) and the City of Helsinki. Please join us as we bring together investors and sustainability professionals to explore how capital markets can better contribute to positive outcomes for children. And of course, children are most welcome to participate!
Registration: Ring the Bell for Children 2026 – Finsif
Links: UNICEF Resources on Child-Lens Investing
Discussion Brief: From Insights to Action in Child-Lens Investing
Outi Kauppinen
Child Rights and Business Specialist, UNICEF Finland
