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ITU appoints First Lady of Nigeria as its Child Online Protection Champion
Geneva, 10 May, 2013 – The Secretary-General of
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Dr Hamadoun I. Touré today appointed
the First Lady of Nigeria and President of the African First Ladies Peace
Mission, Her Excellency Dame (Dr) Patience Goodluck Jonathan, as ITU’s
Child Online
Protection (COP) Champion.
The First Lady received her letter of appointment from the Director of ITU’s
Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, who met with her today to
discuss issues related to cyberthreats and cybersecurity in the Africa region.
Mr Sanou was accompanied by Datuk Mohd Noor Amin, Chairman of the
International
Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), ITU’s
executing arm for cybersecurity, and Andrew Rugege, ITU Regional Director for
Africa.
“It is a great honour for ITU to have the support of Nigeria’s First Lady,”
said Dr Touré. “Her commitment is further confirmation of the key role that ITU
is playing as a global catalyst and facilitator in international dialogue and
cooperation in the area of cybersecurity.”
Mr Sanou added that the “COP framework has become a crucial means of creating
a safe environment for our children while they are on the net. Both ITU and
IMPACT have faith in Her Excellency’s ability to spread this message and push
for reforms not only in the Africa region but across the globe.”
Datuk Mohd Noor Amin said Dame Jonathan, who has won numerous accolades for
her charitable work involving women and children, will be the perfect advocate
for ITU’s Child Online Protection initiative. “Her Excellency is both a
progressive leader and renowned humanitarian, and is the ideal candidate to help
ITU-IMPACT in its mission to push for COP awareness and the need for national
online protection frameworks to protect and support the younger generations
online.”
In addition to the COP initiative, ITU and IMPACT are looking at the
possibility of setting up a Cybersecurity Regional Centre in Nigeria which would
play an essential role in supporting the expansion of ITU-IMPACT’s network
globally, by localizing cybersecurity services to meet the unique needs of the
region. Nigeria has indicated its interest in hosting a new Regional Centre
under the ITU-IMPACT framework.
The proposed Regional Centre would become a vital hub of expertise and
constitute an important component of the multi-stakeholder network that must be
built to support government, industry and citizens, so that the full benefits of
information and communications technology can be assured for all citizens.
“While acting as a catalyst for greater regional collaboration to address
escalating cyber threats, this centre would also help promote Nigeria as an
advanced cybersecurity hub for the region,” said Mr Sanou.
For more information, please contact:
At ITU:
Marco Obiso
ITU Cybersecurity Coordinator
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Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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At IMPACT:
Philip Victor
Director of Policy and
International Cooperation
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Kala Pakiri
Manager, Corporate Communications
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About ITU...
About
IMPACT
The International Multilateral
Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) is the cybersecurity executing
arm of the United Nations' specialised agency - the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). As the world’s first UN-backed
comprehensive alliance against cyber threats, IMPACT brings together
governments, academia and industry experts to enhance the global community’s
capabilities in dealing with cyber threats. Based in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, IMPACT
is the operational home of ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA). IMPACT
provides ITU’s 193 Member States access to expertise, facilities and resources
to effectively address cyber threats, as well as assisting United Nations
agencies in protecting their ICT infrastructures. For more information, please
visit impact-alliance.org.