Good day everyone,
Thank you so much for joining us for the Regional Launch for the CIS Region of ITU's fully revised Child Online Protection Guidelines.
Digital technologies have created unprecedented opportunities for children and young people to communicate, connect, share, learn, access information and express their opinions on matters that affect their lives and their communities.
But wider and more easily available access to the Internet and mobile technology also poses significant challenges to children's safety – both online and offline.
Our very first set of COP guidelines were issued more than ten years ago, as part of the Child Online Protection initiative launched by ITU in 2008. A multistakeholder initiative comprising over 50 partners from around the world, COP seeks to bring together representatives from all sectors of the global community to help create a safe and empowering online experience for children and young people around the world.
In 2018, to respond to growing challenges posed by the rapid evolution of digital devices, networks and platforms, ITU membership requested a comprehensive update of the COP Guidelines.
The current COVID-19 crisis has only further underscored the vital importance of agreed international principles to help keep children safe, with huge numbers of children now coming online for the first time – many at a much younger age than their parents may have originally planned.
Our new COP guidelines significantly broaden the scope of child online protection principles and now cover online gaming, AI technologies, robotics and connected toys, as well as the special situation of children and young people with disabilities.
The recommendations included in the new guidelines also strive to strike an important balance between the need for protection, and the need for greater participation by and empowerment of children.
The 2020 guidelines are designed to serve as a blueprint that can be adapted and used by different countries and stakeholders in a way that is consistent with national and local customs and laws.
They can be considered as an initial step to engage all relevant stakeholders – governments, the private sector, parents and teachers' associations, and children themselves – in discussions around targeted measures and actions to create a safer online environment.
It is our hope that these fully re-thought guidelines will serve as an effective tool to make solid, tangible and rapid progress in child online safety, while ensuring that children's rights are always considered and included in programme design and policy implementation.
I believe the United Nations and its specialized agencies, such as ITU, play an important role as global conveners and facilitators for stakeholders to come together to discuss, identify and implement solutions towards building a universally available, open, secure and trustworthy Internet.
International cooperation will be crucial. The increasingly urgent global challenge to keep children safe online and to empower them requires a global approach, intergovernmental collaboration and strong, multi-stakeholder cooperation. Several countries have already become champions in the region and we hope these guidelines may help others to follow.
Thank you.
