Princess Sofia of Sweden attended a conference on UN Day to discuss the implementation of the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Goals.
Hosted by Entrepreneurship Forum’s Philanthropic Forum, the guest list included business representatives who “raised questions about how politics and the public sector work to achieve the goals, whether economic, social and environmental goals come together and how companies deliver to achieve the goals,” per the Swedish Royal House website.
While there, she spoke about her work with the Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Foundation and Project Playground, two initiatives that she helped co-found to support a myriad of causes.
The Prince Couple’s Foundation primarily supports projects relating to online bullying and dyslexia awareness (Prince Carl Philip lives with dyslexia while Princess Sofia has spoken about the intense online bullying she received once her relationship with her husband became public knowledge).
Their foundation supports projects and people who “believe in a dynamic and inclusive society free of hatred and bullying” and deals primarily with young people and children, though they also work with adult projects, as well.
Princess Sofia formed Project Playground before her wedding, in 2010, with a friend. They had been working with African charitable organisations and wanted to form their own that would focus on the individual child and uses a holistic approach to education, development and support needs.
“By putting quality before quantity on our business and focusing on the individual, we work for long-term, sustainable change,” the Project Playground website reads. It currently operates in South Africa and Sweden, and Princess Sofia regularly travels to South Africa to work with the organisation on the ground.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are a series of 17 goals that must be achieved by 2030. Per the UN’s website, the goals “recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”
