User:MVogelezang/Marc Dullaert

Marcus Ludovicus Maria (Marc) Dullaert (Zutphen, 31 augustus 1963) is a Dutch entrepeneur and board member who was appointed as the first-ever Ombudsman for Children of the Netherlands by the parliamant on February 15th, 2011. He fulfilled this function until 1 april 2016. the founder and chairman of the KidsRights foundation, which champions children’s rights in developing countries worldwide. With effect from 1 October 2015, he was also President of the European network of children's ombudsmen.

Early life
Dullaert was born and raised in Zuthpen and  He obtained his high school graduation at the Isendoorn College in Warnsveld. Afterwards he studied Theology before obtaining a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and Communication Science. He also earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration at Nyenrode Universiteit.

Career
Dullaert worked until 1997 at Foster Parents Plan as marketing manager. Until 2003 he was Managing Director and shareholder at Ivo Niehe productions. From 2003 to 2009, he was employed as CEO at D & D Film & TV Productions B.V. This company has applied for moratorium on July 22, 2008. An agreement on the lifting of this is confirmed by the Amsterdam District Court on 21 January 2009.

Dullaert founded together with Ingrid Ikink in 2003 the KidsRights Foundation, which is committed to children's rights in developing countries. He is the chairman of this foundation. He took the initiative for the KidsRights Millennium Development goals Conference, which the Presidency was fulfilled by the Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu and former South African president De Klerk. He is also the initiator of the international children's peace prize; Dullaert is also Chairman of the expert Committee of this price.

In 2016, he was given the assignment of the Cabinet, together Secretary of State Sander Dekker, to bring back the amount of non-studying childrens (children who actually have to go to school but just sit at home).

Ombudsman for Children
On 15 February 2011 Dullaert was appointed Child Ombudsman by the House of Representatives. He started in april with its work. D The children's ombudsman is a substitute-ombudsman of the national ombudsman, However, he has a unique scope and must be independently accountable to the Senate and The House of Representatives. As a Children's Ombudsman, his task is to ensure that government agencies and other organizations respect the rights of children and young people up to the age of 18. His tools for this include: information, investigation of complaints from children and adolescents and the solicited and unsolicited advice of the government and parliament. In addition to the Ombudsman for Children, Dullaert was also chairman of the European Network of Children's Ombudsmen from 1 October 2015, in which 33 countries are represented.

The National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen made use of his legal possibility in early 2016 not to nominate Dullaert for a reappointment. Dullaert's term of office expired on 1 April 2016. After the announcement of his forced departure, more than 28,000 people signed a petition within a few days, calling for Dullaert to be granted a second term of office. Eventually, 40,557 people signed the petition 'Dullaert has to stay' that was presented to the House of Representatives on 17 February 2016. On 5 April 2016, the House of Representatives appointed Margrite Kalverboer as his successor.

Personal
Dullaert is married and has three children. The family lives in Deventer.