Background to the initiative
The Story Behind the Question
A summer afternoon in Stockholm, outside the Grand Hotel where Nobel laureates stay each December. Children's voices across the water. The carefree and the weighty together. There Bernhard Hanel asked the question: What if all the children of this world received the Nobel Peace Prize?
Not one child as a symbol. All two billion. In recognition of what they are: natural peacemakers.
About the World Child Forum
Founded in 2021 as a complementary event to the World Economic Forum. While Davos discusses numbers, we explore imagination and play. A small core team works with volunteers. Supported by the Rosa and Bernhard Merz Foundation.
Our vision for 2026: "The Davos Loop" between WCF and WEF. Not opposition. An exchange. One asks: What works? The other asks: What if? One measures success. The other measures possibilities. A "loop" connecting both worlds where questions travel back and forth, perspectives meet. This is new.
About Bernhard Hanel
Initiator and originator of this initiative. Father, artist, entrepreneur. The question of what a world would look like where all children can fulfil their potential has driven him for years.
The "Nobel Peace Prize question" emerged from his work with the World Child Forum: Children need more than protection. They deserve recognition for what they already are – people who show us how peace works.