Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio's speech at UNICEF's Sustainable Stock Exchanges event on 20 November 2025 at the Helsinki Stock Exchange Building

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio's speech at UNICEF's Sustainable Stock Exchanges event on 20 November 2025 at the Helsinki Stock Exchange Building.

Dear participants, ladies and gentlemen,

I’m delighted to open the Helsinki Stock Market today, on World Children’s Day.

In many parts of the world, children’s lives and rights are under threat. Rising conflicts, economic instability and lack of quality education challenge children’s well-being.  At the same time, the funding gap to meet the commonly agreed Sustainable Development Goals is huge. Governments across the globe face serious economic constraints. We need to step up our efforts to mobilize and leverage funding to meet the development goals that we have jointly committed to. As public resources become increasingly constrained, we are actively looking for ways to amplify the impact of all investments – to unlock global capital in support of the SDGs and children.

Finland places strong emphasis on mobilizing private capital to complement public funding - particularly towards investments that advance sustainable development. By leveraging private financing, a larger amount of development needs can be covered than can be done with public development funding alone.

This is also the reason behind Finland’s support for UNICEF’s Innovative Finance Hub and Child-Lens Investing (CLI).  We are witnessing how Child-Lens Investing is inspiring investors to rethink and adjust their approaches and evaluate the impacts on children. This has already translated into concrete partnerships, for example with Finnfund which launched its Digital Access Impact Fund this August. The fund aims to close the digital divide by improving access to affordable and reliable Internet, especially in underserved and rural communities. It promotes digital, financial, and gender inclusion, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals.

Dear friends,

UNICEF’s Innovative Finance Hub’s work on Child-Lens Investing is remarkable – and we are glad to see how this new approach is progressing and gaining international recognition. Last year, it was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the Best Inventions. Now we are taking another significant and concrete step forward for Child-Lens Investing as UNICEF formalizes its partnership with the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges (UN SSE) initiative. This is an influential platform working with over 140 stock exchanges worldwide to promote sustainability standards in financial markets.

Today marks an important opportunity for stock markets to champion children’s rights in sustainable finance. This is a strong encouragement for listed companies to incorporate child lens into their own activities and supply chains.

Companies that integrate a child lens into their strategies—prioritizing children's rights, safety, and well-being—are not only fostering social impact. They are also unlocking long-term value creation and gaining a competitive edge in global markets.

Dear participants,

The bell rings here in Helsinki today, and I am hoping that as this movement continues to grow, the bells will be ringing for children at many more stock exchanges next year on World Children’s Day. Thank you.