AALI ANDELLA

Mohamed

Child and youth safety online is a global issue that concerns the United Nations and its
partners. The internet provides children and young people with new opportunities to access
information, culture, communication, and entertainment, but it also poses serious risks to their safety
and well-being. Some of these risks include cyberbullying, hate speech, violent content, sexual
exploitation and abuse, human trafficking, disinformation, and privacy breaches. These risks can
affect their rights to education, health, and protection, as well as their mental and emotional
development.

The UN is actively working to protect children and youth online through various programs and
initiatives that involve different stakeholders. Some of these initiatives are the Child Online Protection
(COP) Initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Day against
Violence and Bullying at School Including Cyberbullying by the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Internet for Trust conference by UNESCO, the Convention on
the Rights of the Child by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Safer Internet
Day by ITU, UNICEF and UNODC.

Child and youth safety online is a shared responsibility that requires cooperation among all
actors, including governments, industry, educators, parents, civil society, and young people
themselves. By creating a safe and empowering online environment for children and youth, we can
ensure that they can enjoy the benefits of the internet while minimizing the harms.