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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
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