ITU Forum for Europe on Child Online Protection was held
from 26 to 27 November 2020. This forum was organized by ITU, in close collaboration with А.S. Popov Odessa National Academy of Telecommunications (ONAT, Ukraine) and was held within the framework of the ITU Regional Initiatives for Europe EUR4 “Enhancing trust and confidence in the use of information and communication technologies”, adopted by the WTDC-17, Buenos Aires.
In today’s world, Internet is evolving at an unbridled speed, becoming an infinitely richer resource for children to play and learn, but exponentially increasing the risked faced by children online. The current pandemic plays an undeniable role in accelerating this phenomenon while throwing a sharp spotlight on the need to strengthen cybersecurity for the youth.
Upon the request of the Member States, the Child Online Protection Guidelines, firstly developed in 2009, have been updated and launched officially in June 2020. This way, continuing the significant effort to create a safe and empowering environment for children and young people by providing 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.
In this context, the Forum provided a platform for all stakeholders to exchange their approaches related to keeping children and young persons safe online. It also offered a unique opportunity to the countries rolling out the COP guidelines to meet and present progress made so far and exchange their national practices. It gave the opportunity to outreach to other stakeholders and inspiring them to undertake concrete actions related to the roll-out of COP Guidelines at the regional and/or national level. This way throwing light on perspective of improvement while adapting to country-specific cases and together reflect on the future of cybersecurity and child online protection.
On the first day, stakeholders were invited to join a special training session targeting youth, educators and parents, organized by ONAT. It was an opportunity to assist to a practical example of trainings that might be delivered across the region based on the COP Guidelines.
This forum was therefore addressed to representatives of ministries, regulators, cyber authorities, telecom operators, universities and general education institutions, telecommunication equipment manufacturers, research and design institutes, software developers and other interested stakeholders of the ITU Member States, Sector Members and Associates from Europe.
Due to COVID-19, the forum initially planned in Odessa, Ukraine, was held virtually. Training sessions taking place in Odessa were retransmitted online.
From 9:00 to 11:40, the live trainings were organized by ONAT Academy targeting young persons between the age of 10 and 15 years old, parents and eductors based upon the updated COP guidelines for Parents and Educators as well as related materials targeting children. It provided an example of how the COP Guidelines could be practically adapted across the European region to ensure an efficient delivery.
