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Child Online Protection for Asia and the Pacific

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The explosion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has created unprecedented opportunities for children and young people to communicate, socialize, share, learn, access information and express their opinions on matters that affect their lives and their communities while at the same time posing significant challenges to children’s safety.

Child Online Protection (COP) is an initiative established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in November 2008 within the framework of the Global Cybersecurity Agenda. The United Nations Secretary-General, states and several international organizations supported the initiative. COP is an international collaborative network to protect children worldwide against cyber threats by providing legal, technical and organizational measures and empowering them to benefit from the opportunities of the online environment fully. ITU developed its very first set of COP Guidelines in 2009. Since then, the Internet has evolved beyond all recognition. Accordingly, the COP Guidelines have been updated and launched officially in June 2020 in all six UN Official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian Spanish).

ITU and the Government of Australia, represented by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts (DITRDCA), formerly known as the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (DITRDC), initiated a project on COP for the Asia-Pacific region in June 2019. This project aims to strengthen the COP framework(s) in selected Asia-Pacific countries with special emphases on providing guidance, developing and disseminating guidelines, building human and institutional capacity, enhancing stakeholders’ engagement and increasing awareness. The project outcomes would also benefit the ITU Members in the Asia-Pacific region through knowledge and experience sharing.

Asia-Pacific Movements

What's New

On 7th December 2023, the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific successfully organized the Child Online Protection (COP) Regional Concluding Workshop, to review and highlight project achievements, share experiences and lessons learned, and foster collaborative partnerships, with a total of 50 participants actively joining the event online. The workshop featured panel discussions with UN agencies and intergovernmental organizations, government representatives, industry and children's rights stakeholders, academia, and ITU Generation Connect Youth Envoys. The beneficiary countries' representatives from Mongolia, Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Cambodia and The Philippines interactively showcased their national COP regulations/strategies and good practices as well as delivered their appreciation for the support from ITU and the government of Australia to make the COP localized work a big success. UNRCO Thailand, UNICEF, UNODC, ILO, APT and ECPAT as the key partners with ITU in the field of COP also presented during the opening and the panel discussions. [Full Report]
On 27 Sep 2023, ITU disseminated its Child Online Protection Guidelines and capacity-building programs at a regional dialogue themed "Racing Against the Clock: Pushing Forward with Child Online Protection in the ASEAN Region- Consolidation of Regional Cooperation under the Indonesia ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023." This event discussed the progress made at both national and regional levels in implementing the ASEAN declaration and the regional plan of action aimed at safeguarding children from all forms of online exploitation and abuse in the ASEAN region. Additionally, the dialogue developed recommendations for the outcome document of the ASEAN Summit in 2023. Furthermore, ITU also presented a comprehensive summary of the deliberations during the regional dialogue.
On 23 June 2023, ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized the training and information session on Child Online Protection as part of the Girls in ICT Day Thailand 2023 digital skills training program. Around 500 students and teachers across Thailand participated in the online training. The students were equipped with ITU COP guidelines, especially Sango online courses and materials, to foster learning and raise awareness about online safety. The training also provided educational recourses for teachers and discussed how to cultivate a healthy and empowering online environment at school and at home.
The first Child Online Protection National Conference Mongolia 2023 was held on 14 June in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, co-organized by ITU, UNICEF, and the Communications Regulation Commission of Mongolia. Around 212 participants from Mongolian government agencies, international organizations, industry, academia and media sectors, civil society, as well as Children’s Council joined the conference. The deliberations focused on various child online protection concerns in Mongolia that highlighted policy recommendations and potential solutions to enable a national strategy. ITU presented the regional updates with preliminary findings of the draft COP national assessment report for Mongolia. The ITU COP Global E-training program and the Mongolian version of the ITU COP Guidelines including Sango online courses with sign language were launched during the event. [Full Report]
ITU is now working with the GovTech and UNICEF to localize ITU COP Guidelines and implement COP initiatives in Bhutan. From 24 February to 6 June 2023, a total of ten focus group discussions (FGDs) have been conducted for children, parents and educators, industry and policymakers in Gelephu and Thimphu. The FGDs aim to assess children's online behaviors, identify opportunities and risks, and to obtain insights into the challenges of protecting children and youth online in Bhutan.
On 22 March, ITU participated in a validation workshop organized by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Kingdom of Cambodia, on the “Final Draft of Cambodia Child Online Protection Guidelines for the Digital Technology Industry”. The interactive workshop shared the final draft COP guidelines for Cambodia's industry and comments and suggestions from different sectors. The ITU COP Guidelines for Industry were presented as an annex to the final draft.
ITU participated in the Safer Internet Day Pakistan event organized by Telenor Pakistan at the panel discussion on “Making space for conversation about life online” with a special emphasis on the Child Online Protection agenda in Pakistan on 15 February 2023. ITU and partners have engaged in the panel to discuss online safety challenges and learning opportunities. The talk was followed by launching Telenor's special episode of the globally acclaimed children’s animated series Burka Avenger which highlighted online safety for children and young people.
ITU has engaged and shared COP regional updates as well as global resources at the First National Conference on “Children in the Digital Age: Together for Safer Internet for Children in Thailand” organized by UNICEF Thailand in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, ITU, and ECPAT International from 8-9 February 2023. On day 1, ITU presented the rapid assessments for Thailand and updated the regional COP movements. On day 2, the launch was initiated by Ms. Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director for ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, highlighting that ITU and UNICEF Thailand are committed to working together to support the government of Thailand in the field of child online protection. [Full Report]
In conjunction of the Safer Internet Day in Jakarta on 8 February 2023, H.E. Ms Bintang Darmawati, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia, officiated the launching of the Indonesian adaptation of ITU Child Online Protection Guidelines. ITU, the British Embassy in Jakarta, and the Indonesia Child Online Protection Network joined the minister in the launching event.

Past Events


Regional ITU presents COP updates at Asia & Pacific Digital Transformation in Learning and Education Technical Working Group (TWG). The TWG is co-chaired by UNICEF ROSA and ITU ASP Office, established in April 2021. The TWG meets on a monthly basis, and includes representatives from UN agencies, civil society and the private sector. One of the common outcomes sought is to provide all children and youth in the Asia Pacific region with quality digital learning and skilling opportunities.	Pakistan During the Pakistan-ITU Digital Inclusion Week on 12-13 December 2022, ITU and MoITT jointly launched the COP programme in Pakistan. One hundred participants from government agencies, UN agencies, industry, donor organization and civil society organizations joined the event. The launch was initiated by Mr. Ajmal Anwar Awan, Member of International Cooperation, MoITT, highlighting the importance of Child Online Protection initiatives in Pakistan, and it’s a joint effort to ensure that the ITU COP guidelines are being effectively implemented and that children in Pakistan have access to safe and secure online experiences.

Bhutan ITU, in partnership with UNICEF Bhutan and the Bhutan Computer Incident Response Team (BtCIRT) organized the first Child Online Protection Task Force meeting on 28 September 2022. In attendance were representatives from the Royal Police, Bhutan Telecom, Tashi Cell, Paro College of Education, and the Ministry of Education.	Timor-Leste ITU delivered “online safety for girls training” physically during the opening ceremony of Girls in ICT Timor-Leste on 28 July 2022. Besides, ITU was invited by the ANC to deliver presentations on COP Guidelines from 27-28 July in Kristal School and Dili International School with nearly 150 students from Dili, Timor-Leste involved.

Cambodia On 28 June 2022, ITU participated and made interventions at the MPTC-UNICEF Child Online Protection Kick-off workshop in Cambodia. ITU delivered a presentation on ITU COP Guidelines for Industry and attended the Panel discussion on “The role of private sectors in raising public awareness and behavioral change on Child Online Risk and Protection”.	Bhutan On 7 April 2022, ITU presented the COP guidelines and the specific COP Asia-Pacific project implementation plans for Bhutan at a national workshop hosted by the Department of Information Technology & Telecom (DITT), Royal Government of Bhutan.

Pakistan On 24 February 2022, the 6th Meeting of the Sub-Committee on ‘Awareness-raising’ under the Auspices of the Task Force: ‘Prevention and Control of Cybercrimes against Children’ organized by Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman)'s Secretariat, Government of Pakistan. During the meeting, ITU presented the COP guidelines as well as the work plan to be implemented in Pakistan. Participants from UNICEF Pakistan and Telenor shared their contribution in COP to explore possible synergies/collaboration to strengthen the response to cybercrimes against children.

Events Highlights
COP Guidelines - Translations

7 December 2023, Virtual COP Regional Concluding Workshop
8-9 February 2023, Bangkok, Thailand
First National COP Conference on Children in the Digital Age: Together for Safer Internet for Children in Thailand
8 February 2023, Jakarta, Indonesia
COP Guidelines Launching Event in Conjunction of Safer Internet Day
15 February 2023, Islamabad, Pakistan
Safer Internet Day at Telenor Pakistan
24 February - 6 June 2023, Bhutan
Focus Group Discussions (All stakeholders)
22 March 2023, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Validation Workshop on ‘Child Online Protection Guidelines for the Digital Technology Industry’
14 June 2023, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
COP National Conference in Mongolia
23 June 2023, Virtual, Thailand
COP Information Session and Training