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Roll Out of the COP Guidelines at the National Level in Europe Region

​​​ To ensure the creation of a safe and empowering environment for all children and young people, ITU firstly developed the Guidelines for Child Online Protection (COP) in 2009. Upon the request of the Member States, the COP Guidelines have been updated and launched officially in June 2020 in all six UN Official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian Spanish).

This updated set of materials aims to raise awareness on the scope of child online protection, while providing resources and actual tools that support children, parents and educators in the development of digital skills and digital literacy, as well as industry and government stakeholders in the development of corporate and national COP policies and strategies.

Within the framework of ITU Regional Initiative for Europe on “Enhancing Trust and Confidence in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies", and with the aim to facilitate the roll-out of the COP Guidelines at the national level, significant efforts have been dedicated in order to release the materials in languages other than the official UN ones. The ITU COP Guidelines are available in 11 languages of the Europe Region, namely: Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian versions.


This page draws attention to the major work of countries currently involved in the process of translating and rolling out the ITU COP Guidelines at national level, and presents concrete actions undertaken for the protection of children online. 

This translated into a series of country-level launching events, trainings, workshops, webinars and communication campaigns supported by ITU, and presented on this webpage with the aim of acting as a framework of reference to be replicated by other countries of the Europe Region which would be interested to roll out the COP Guidelines. ​​​​​​​​​​​​

Events​

ITU special session on “Global Child Online Protection Guidelines: Implementing regional and national measures” was organized by ITU Office for Europe within the framework of the 14th International Conference “Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online” and held virtually on 1st October 2020. The session offered a unique platform for the presentation of the ITU COP Guidelines, as well as for the demonstration of a series of examples of the roll-out of the Guidelines at the national level. 

ITU Forum for Europe on Child Online Protection was organized by ITU in collaboration with A.S. Popov Odessa National Academy of Telecommunications (ONAT in Ukraine), and held from 26 to 27 November 2020. The Forum provided a platform for all stakeholders to exchange their approaches related to keeping children and young people safe online. It also offered a unique opportunity for countries involved in the roll out of the COP Guidelines to present and exchange on national practices.  [Access the Outcome Report here]

ITU workshop on “Fostering a Culture on Child Online Protection: Roll-out of the Child Online Protection (COP) Guidelines in Europe" was organized by ITU Office for Europe within the framework of the 15th International Conference “Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online and held virtually on 24 September 2021. The workshop focused on providing an overview of the ITU COP Guidelines for Policy-makers, Parents and Educators, and Industry. It also provided a platform for stakeholders in the Europe Region to exchange on country-level experiences in developing a child online protection strategy. [Access the Outcome Report here]. 

Launching events of the ITU COP Guidelines translated into national language


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​The Albanian version of the ITU COP Guidelines has been launched during the session "National policies to increase child online safety", held within the International Safer Internet Day on the 9th of February 2021, and organized by the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security (AKCESK) of Albania and co-organized by ITU.
​The Hungarian version of the ITU COP Guidelines has been released during a special event held on the 3rd of December 2020.
Other resources:
  • ​You can access the recording of the event here;
Read our Q&A with H.E. Károly Solymár, Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary [here] to learn more about how Hungary is implementing child online protection (COP) at the national level and the role of ITU in supporting this work.
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​The Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian versions of the ITU COP Guidelines have been launched during the dedicated special event held on the 17th of December 2020 and organized by the Communication Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
​The Ukrainian version of the ITU COP Guidelines has been released during the movie format conference “Online Safety: Contemporary Challenges" held on the 19th and 20th of January 2021, and organized by The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and co-organized by ITU.​



Related Activities at the National Level

​​Albania

​Albania is the first pilot country worldwide for the rollout of the ITU Global Project “Creating a Safe and Prosperous Cyberspace for Children". The rollout of the project started in September 2021 and is planned to last until March 2023, with the close collaboration of the National Authority on Electronic Certification and Cybersecurity of Albania. It will include a series of trainings, workshops, knowledge products and awareness raising campaigns targeting all stakeholders. It was announced during the event “Promoting Implementation of COPs in Albania", which was organized by NAECCS and held on 29 September 2021.​​

With the support of ITU Office for Europe, the NGO "Women In technology Albania", in collaboration with the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security (NAECCS), delivered a set of e-trainings targeting households based on the ITU COP Guidelines and related materials. [E-trainings for household Outcome Report ]

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Learn more here.

​Bosnia and Herzegovina

With the support of the ITU Office for Europe, the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina launched a media campaign in 2020 targeting parents, educators, media and information literacy experts from institutions and NGOs, through social media and popular web portals. [Media campaign outcome report]




​Hungary

With the support of the ITU Office for Europe, Dr. Katalin Baracsi, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary held a series of activities to roll out the COP Guidelines at the national level, such as conferences and workshops targeting parents and educators, an Instagram campaign and a drawing competition untitled “Sango and Me". Learn more about the “Sango and Me" initiative here. 

[COP Roll out activities in Hungary Outcome Report ]




​Malta

The ITU Office for Europe, in close collaboration with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, started its assistance for the elaboration of a background document on the status of child online protection in the country, through a review of the national framework in place.


Upon the request of the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS), and within the framework of the “P.O.P-up: Promote Online Protection” project established by MFWS, ITU is assisting in the delivery of a set of Training of Trainers (ToT) modules for educators. This training was provided in coordination with the Maltese Ministry for Education.  The first training took place on 7 December 2022 in Malta and will target social workers, counsellors, and psychotherapists of the two targeted colleges. The training will continue in 2023 and will be scaled up to all national state schools. 

Learn more here.

ITU signs the Joint Declaration with the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society on Child Online Protection  
On the 10th of October the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS) strengthened their cooperation in the field of child online protection. This was acted by the signature of a Joint Declaration between Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunications Development Bureau, Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Chair of the MFWS and President Emeritus of Malta. This signature was held in the margins of ITU Council Working Group on Child Online Protection (CWG-COP), during which ITU welcomed the Maltese delegation. 

Learn more here.​

​North Macedonia


North Macedonia: The ITU Office for Europe provided its assistance on the elaboration of a Child Online Protection National Assessment in North Macedonia in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Society and Administration. The assessment includes qualitative and quantitative research, including interviews with relevant national stakeholders, and provided an operational roadmap based on identified challenges, opportunities, and recommendations. A launching event of the National Child Online Safety Assessment took place on 11 July 2022.  In conjunction with the awareness and stakeholder event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the Ministry of Information Society and Administration and the Ministry of Education and Science. 

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[National Digital Skills Assessment - Republic of North Macedonia]​

​Ukraine

 Ukraine: With the support of the ITU Office for Europe, the NGO MINZMIN, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, delivered a set of webinars in 2020 targeting parents and educators based on the ITU COP Guidelines and related materials.

[Webinars for Parents and Educators Outcome Report]

Recording of the first Webinar can be found here (in Ukrainian language)

Recording of the second webinar can be found here (in Ukrainian language) 

Recording of the third webinar can be found here (in Ukrainian language)

Recording of the fourth webinar can be found here  (in Ukrainian language) 

 

​A.S. Popov Odessa National Academy of Telecommunication (ONAT Academy) delivered a set of e-trainings targeting children and parents based on the ITU COP Guidelines and related materials in 2020.  [Recordings of the e-trainings]​


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ITU COP GUIDELINES – TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS

​​​ITU COP Guidelines and related materials in all official UN languages 

Albanian language:

COP Guidelines for Parents and Educators in Albanian language

COP Guidelines for Policymakers in Albanian Language

COP Guidelines for Industry in Albanian Language

Workbook "Work with Sango"

Storybook "Online with Sango" ​

Bosnian language:

ITU COP Guidelines and related materials in Bosnian language

Bulgarian language:

ITU COP Guidelines for Policymakers in Bulgarian language

Executive summary COP Guidelines for Policymakers in Bulgarian language

Policy Brief in Bulgarian Language

Online Safety with Sango Flyer in Bulgarian Language

​Online Safety with Sango Poster in Bulgarian Language

Croatian language:

ITU COP Guidelin​es and related materials in Croatian language 

Hungarian language:

COP Guidelines for Parents and Educators in Hungarian language​

Executive summary COP Guidelines for Parents and Educators in Hungarian language

Executive summary COP Guidelines for Policymakers in Hungarian language

Executive summary COP Guidelines for Industry in Hungarian language

Storybook for children under 9 years old in Hungarian language

Workbook for children aged 9 to 12 years old in Hungarian language

Teacher's Guide in Hungarian language

​Lithuanian language

​COP Guidelines for Industry in Lithuanian language​

Romanian language:

Storybook for children under 9 years old in Romanian language

Workbook for children aged 9 to 12 years old in Romanian language

Social media campaign in Romanian language​

Serbian language:

ITU COP Guidelines and related materials in Serbian language​​

Turkish language

COP Guidelines for Parents and Educators in Turkish language ​

Ukrainian language:

COP Guidelines and related materials in Ukrainian language ​ 

Child Online Protection Training

Documents and References

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