ChildFund says its new global WEB Safe & Wise campaign aims to protect children from sexual exploitation and online abuse while enabling them to use digital connectivity.
The charity says digital technology is changing childhood, affecting about one in three internet users under 18.
It says the digital environment has increased their access to information and learning resources and increased social and community engagement opportunities.
On the other hand, ChildFund says the rapid expansion of digital technologies exposes children to increasing threats to their safety and well-being.
It says more than 200,000 children go online for the first time every day, 800 million of whom are actively using social media. At the same time, estimates indicate that 750,000 people want to connect with children worldwide online at any time for sexual purposes.
ChildFund says that in many countries, even where measures are in place to protect against online sexual exploitation and abuse of children, laws and policies are often inadequate and inconsistent.
The nonprofit says WEB Safe & Wise, Creating a better digital world with children, is the first campaign launched as part of ChildFund Alliances FY22-25 Strategic Plan, Working Together to Address Emerging Threats to Child Safety.
ChildFund says this new initiative will address the risks in the digital environment and empower children and young people to become effective digital citizens.
The Secretary General of the ChildFund Alliance, Meg Gardinier, says all children have the right to be safe online.
“ChildFund members are committed to building an accessible, secure, and inclusive digital world in which governments, the public and private sectors, and families need to act,” she says.
“We will work with children to create a better and safer digital world.”
Mark Collins, CEO of ChildFund New Zealand, says the risks to children who are online are increasing every day.
“Online violence against tamariki knows no boundaries, whether they live in Aotearoa or the global communities where ChildFund works,” he says.
“A key focus of ChildFund’s mahi is the protection and protection of children, and doing this in the virtual world is just as important as in the physical world.”
ChildFund says the new WEB Safe & Wise advocacy campaign focuses on two key outcomes:
Laws and policies to protect children from online child sexual exploitation and abuse are strengthened. Children are effective digital citizens equipped to participate safely, ethically, and responsibly in online civic engagements.
ChildFund has identified several global policy questions designed to enhance protection and support digital skills development and citizenship. During this initiative, it plans to work with government agencies, leaders in the tech industry and the wider digital community, and civil society.
The charity has also established a Children and Youth Advisory Board comprising eight child representatives from ChildFund programs. It says it will develop a call to action for children for stakeholders, participate in national, regional, and global advocacy activities, and share lessons about online safety and protection against abuse and exploitation with children and young people in their communities.
