Mr Abdelaziz Al Zarooni, Chair of the Council Working Group on Child Online Protection,
Vice Chairs,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I extend a warm welcome to you all, at this 20th meeting of the ITU Council Working Group on Child Online Protection.
Please accept my apologies for being late. I was attending the opening ceremony of the 2024 Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group Meeting. However, I did not want to miss this meeting as child online protection is dear to my heart.
During our last meeting in October 2023, a decision was made to extend the duration of the Council Working Group to one and a half days, so that we have more time to discuss this extremely important topic. The high number of contributions, coupled with the consistently valuable and relevant content, underscores the uniqueness of this meeting. It provides a distinctive opportunity for all relevant stakeholders to actively engage and exchange insights on priorities, challenges, and potential solutions pertaining to child online protection.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as, “A human being below the age of 18 years".
The global population breakdown by age shows that around a quarter are younger than 14 years. Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age. In 2020 2.6 billion people where under the age of 20, constituting 33.2 %.
This is why we should care.
The profound impact of digital advancements on the lives, education, and social interactions of our children cannot be overstated. As we continue to witness a remarkable influx of children into online spaces at increasingly younger ages, platforms struggle to address ever more concerning issues. These include a disturbing spectre of online child abuse catering to an adult market, and other exploitative risks endangering the safety and well-being of our children.
At the Telecommunication Development Bureau, we engage with governments, ICT industries and NGOs to develop national strategies and build capacity and skills development to keep children safe online.
Some examples of our work include :
- Our Global Programme, “Creating a Safe and Empowering Cyber Environment for Children," launched in collaboration with the National Cybersecurity Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Global Programme has had far-reaching impact. Allow me to highlight some of that impact:
- We translated the Child Online Protection guidelines into 25 languages.
- We developed online trainings benefiting 15, 000 children, parents, caretakers, policymakers and ICT professionals.
- We created an online game and app together with children from all ITU regions.
- And we agreed upon 10 new collaborative actions with national and international stakeholders.
- I would also like to highlight our Training of Trainers Programme that we delivered in Malawi, Malta, Morocco, and Uzbekistan.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Collaboration with ITU members, partners, and experts is instrumental to supporting national implementation, harmonizing frameworks, and enhancing knowledge and capacity development at all levels. I would like to use this opportunity to recognize all stakeholders for the outstanding work, and to encourage you to continue your active involvement in our joint efforts to keep children safe online, whether through funding or participation in various activities. Collective efforts are paramount to effectively protecting and empowering children online, globally.
Last but not least, the next World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2025 will be a unique occasion for all of you to further discuss Resolution 67 on the role of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector in child online protection.
Thank you for your indispensable role in this critical endeavour.
I look forward to our collaboration in the coming months.
Thank you.
