Prins Carl Philip:

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour to be here today to open this important forum.

Many of you have travelled far to be here. We are excited to see so much knowledge and dedication gathered here in this room.

We would like to thank the Friends International Center Against Bullying, Linköping University and Örebro University for this important initiative.

When we got married in 2015, we founded the Prince Carl Philip’s and Princess Sofia's Foundation. Among other things, the foundation works against bullying online and for children’s and young people’s right to be themselves. The aim is to spread the knowledge that diversity is not something bad, but instead an asset.

It is a big commitment. But by working together with other actors, we hope to be able to make a difference.

We are trying to contribute to an online society that is open and inclusive.

A society where children and young people feel that they can truly be themselves.

Together we can work towards a society where they will be accepted for who they are, regardless of their style, their background or who they happen to fall in love with.

We, as adults, have an enormous responsibility to set an example for children and young people. To be role models in every way.

Prinsessan Sofia:

And taking that responsibility means having to ask ourselves some tough questions, like:

How do we express ourselves, offline and online?

What do we say about people who look or act different to what is considered the norm?

And when we express our opinions online: do we stand for them or do we hide behind a veil of anonymity?

Our choices matter. If we want to change how children and young people treat each other, we have to start with ourselves. All change starts here.

It is every parent’s fear that their child will be bullied – or bully other children. How can we prevent that? And how can we support the ones watching silently from the side, and give them the courage to say no to bullying?

Ladies and gentlemen: We look forward to taking part of today’s program, to learn about how we can stop bullying and also about what we can do to prevent it. We hope that many new ideas and solutions will see the light of day during this forum.

Thank you!