Regional Launches of ITU's 2020 Child Online Protection Guidelines
October/November 2020
Opening Remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Good day everyone,
Buenos dias a todos!
Muchas gracias por acompañarnos hoy en el lanzamiento regional de las Américas, de las nuevas directrices para la protección de la infancia en línea.
Las tecnologías digitales han creado oportunidades sin precedentes para que los niños y jóvenes se co-mu-niquen, conecten, compartan, aprendan, accedan a información y expresen sus opiniones sobre asuntos que afectan sus vidas y sus comunidades.
Ladies and gentlemen, wider and more easily available access to the Internet and mobile technology also poses significant challenges to children's safety – both online and offline.
In 2008, we launched our very first set of COP guidelines.
These guidelines were the product of our Child Online Protection initiative a multistakeholder initiative that comprising more than 50 partners from around the world.
COP brings together representatives from all sectors of the global community to help create a safe and empower online experience for children and young people around the world.
The current COVID-19 crisis has 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 anticipated.
Our new COP guidelines significantly broaden the scope of child online protection principles including 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 children's need for protection, and the need for their greater participation and ultimate empowerment.
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 – through discussions around targeted measures and actions to create a safer online environment.
It is our hope that these fully re-considered 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.
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 on all digital issues will be crucial and the global challenge to keep children safe online requires a global approach, intergovernmental collaboration and strong, multi-stakeholder cooperation.
Several countries have already become champions of COP in the region and we hope these guidelines may help others to follow.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased that our Regional Offices are organizing several online sessions in all Regions to launch the Guidelines in the six UN official languages.
I hope that through these series, we will raise awareness on the importance of Child Online Protection, promote the Guidelines and encourage stakeholders to join ITU to implement the Guidelines by defining policies and measures at the national and regional level.
In the Americas Region, thanks to our partners, we have started to build capacity and knowledge around child online protection.
We engaged in dialogues and consultations with several stakeholders such as Anatel Brazil and Paniamor.
We really hope that the implementation of the Guidelines can become a movement embraced by the whole region.
I thank all of you for being here today and I wish you an excellent and fruitful discussion.
