Africa Week of Action for Child Online Protection speakers

Organizers of the first ever Africa Week of Action for Child Online Protection (AWA4COP) scheduled for June 11 have confirmed speakers for the event.

The African Telecommunication Union (ATU) and Child Online Africa (COA) are hosting the event which is the first of its kind.

Ten speakers have been confirmed for the event which will be broadcast via Zoom.

Among the speakers are Burkina Faso’s minister for digital economy and postal development, Hadja Fatima Ouattara, John Omo, ATU Secretary General and Andrew Rugege who is the regional director for Africa at the African Telecommunication Union and the representative to the AU.

For this inaugural campaign, Child Online Africa and African Telecommunication Union are urging African countries to consider the Child Online Protection Guidelines as a solid foundation on which the Governments can develop inclusive, multi-stakeholder national strategies for online child protection. Among the recommendations ATU and COA are urging African Governments to consider, include:

• Develop a national strategy for Child Online Protection to include actions to be taken against perpetrators of violence and abuse of children.
• Build capacity for frontline workers regarding online-related risks.
• Initiate a multi-stakeholder approach for country-level implementation of strategies.
• Ensure a dedicated and easy-to-use channel for reporting incidents and counselling.
• Commit resources to the various sectors of Child Protection to mainstream Online Safety concerns while making it effective.
• Listen and respond to the voices of those affected.

Create an enabling environment for individuals and civil society to voice their concerns and seek redress in matters of child online abuse.

Starting this year, the Africa Week of Action for Child Online Protection (AWA4COP) will be an annual campaign that will be taking place every 2^nd week of June.

This week of action will run from 7^th to 11^th June 2021 under theme, Make Child Online Protection Visible.

For this inaugural campaign, Child Online Africa and the African Telecommunications Union will work together to rally the Civil Society and the Non-Governmental Organizations to join them in this call to action.

Africa Week of Action for Child Online Protection launched

Source: Africafeeds.com