Under the Child Online Protection (COP) Initiative, ITU has established an international collaborative network for action to promote the online protection of children worldwide by providing guidance on safe online behaviour in conjunction with other UN organizations and partners.
As part of this endeavour, ITU is partnering with the African Child Online Protection Education and Awareness Centre (ACOPEA) to run a pilot exercise in training community activists and others in key safety messages and tools. The ACOPEA programmes and educational resources, in line with the scope and objective of the COP Initiative, will promote smart, safe and responsible use of digital technologies.
In particular, one of the expected outcomes of the project is to conduct awareness and training sessions in 25 schools in partnership with educators/teachers.
Facebook is supporting this pilot initiative financially, in partnership with ITU and ACOPEA. All three parties have a strong interest in digital empowerment and in ensuring a safe and secure online experience for children and young people in Africa.
The pilot will principally focus on Ethiopia, although the parties have ambitions for it to lead to the development of Africa-wide education and awareness activities on the importance of child online safety.
The project aims to enable ITU and its international partners to reach out to all stakeholders, to better understand the issues and mobilize support for sustainable pan-African Child Online Protection.
