February 5, 2019//-The Africa Union (AU) has thrown its weight behind the promotion of this year’s Safer Internet Day which fell on today Tuesday 5, 2019.
In a statement issued to mark the day, AU acknowledged the initiative to promote safe and responsible use of ICT tools by children and young people as well as everybody.
“This is not only in line with our quest to realize Agenda 2040 (An Africa Fit For Children) Agenda 2063 (The Africa We want) and Agenda 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals), but we believe it will go a long way to safeguard the 24% of Africans who are already connected to the internet, and will largely influence the rest who will be connecting from now on”.
The AU therefore joined the rest of the world to mark Safer Internet Day 2019 under the theme: “Together For a better Internet.”
“Though Safer Internet day is the brain child of the INSAFE/INHOPE network on behalf of the European Commission and originally targeted at the European States, we find it a good rallying point for everybody who has interest in the future generation to commit to playing their part to making the Internet space a good environment for them”, the statement added.
Child online abuse, in all its various forms including children’s exposure to pornography and sexual abuse, have been a growing public concern in Africa for quite some time now. The United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs) intimated that, the strongest growth was reported in Africa, where the percentage of people using the Internet increased from 2.1 per cent in 2005 to 24.4 per cent in 2018.
Media reports have it that about 75% of the children and young people in Africa have experienced some form of online abuse by adults and/or their peers either deliberately or otherwise.
It is imperative to develop an approach to Internet governance which ensures young people’s safe use of it and makes it beneficial to all.
This requires a strategic approach to Internet access and use that embraces and maximizes the opportunities that the Internet provides whilst at the same time tackling the risks it poses for the young users and, by extension, everyone. To achieve this goal will necessitate working with stakeholders in terms of policy, education and an effective process of accountability and evaluation.
“It is not an issue of ‘if’ but ‘when’ my child is exposed even on his/her games console at an age you least expected. It happens so because there is one Internet for everyone, whatever their age, this means we need to ensure at all times the wellbeing of children are protected so that they can explore, create and dream without fear.
Safer Internet Day is about every stakeholder, right from policy makers through to the least to empower children and give them the skills to interact safely and responsibly and get the most out of the connected world we have now,” said Awo Aidam Amenyah, Executive Director for Child Online Africa.
The ITU estimates that at the end of 2018, 51.2 per cent of the global population, or 3.9 billion people, will be using the Internet.
“Therefore, we would like to call on the following groups whose roles are crucial in this conversation of prevention of abuse when it comes to the misuse of ICT tools: the young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement officers, companies, policymakers, and wider society, to join all efforts to help to create a better internet for all”.
African Eye Report
