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About the Child Online Protection Initiative

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Protecting children online is a global challenge, which requires a global approach. While many efforts to improve child online protection are already under way, their reach has been more national than global.

ITU launched the Child Online Protection (COP) Initiative in November 2008 as a multi-stakeholder effort within the Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) framework. The initiative brings together partners from all sectors of the global community to create a safe and empowering online experience for children around the world. COP was presented to the ITU Council in 2008 and endorsed by the UN Secretary-General, Heads of State, Ministers and heads of international organizations from around the world.

COP takes a holistic approach to promoting child online safety, developing strategies that span five key areas:

The initiative works with partners to develop cybersecurity strategies across these areas and promote safe online environments for children around the world.

Legal Measures


A comprehensive framework of law is an essential tool for promoting a supportive and safer online environment for children and young people. COP tracks approaches taken in different countries with varying legal systems and produces guidelines designed to help Member States achieve their goals.

Technical & Procedural Measures


COP develops key recommendations and standards to support the protection of children online by all key stakeholders.

Organizational Structures


COP promotes a model national framework to assist in the development of a positive online environment for children and young people. COP encourages the creation of COP Units at national level and is developing a series of indicators to assist with the measurement of progress in implementing online child protection initiatives at global, regional, and national levels.

Capacity Building


COP supports countries in the implementation of COP National Frameworks and organizes strategic events at regional and global level to support these processes.

International Cooperation


COP promotes a global culture of digital citizenship and encourages the establishment of cooperative arrangements for sharing information in order to eliminate or mitigate risks to children and young people online.