UNICEF launches Online Child Safety Campaign

Tirana, 9 December 2016- UNICEF in Albania, with support from the UK Government is launching a new campaign called – #Openyoureyes – focusing around children as the primary messengers and advocates to help END online violence.  Globally, one out of three internet users is a child. UNICEF aims at amplifying adolescents’ voices to help address online violence, exploitation and abuse, and ensure that children can take full advantage of the benefits the internet and mobile phones offer. The campaign will kick off today at “Ahmet Gashi” compulsory school in Laprake, Tirane. 

Although reliable data on online abuse is lacking; reports confirm the existence of child pornography and online use of such materials. Most parents in Albania do not know how to protect children from online risks and they are unaware of parental control tools such as content filtering. To address this concern, an awareness campaign on internet safety, the first of its kind in Albania, has been developed to increase awareness and provide information to children, parents, teachers and service providers in order to make the internet a safer place for children. 

The campaign is designed by a professional communication company using a combination of visual message channels (TV spots, city lights, and posters). The Information Education Communication (IEC) materials have been developed in consultation with children through focus group discussions. The campaign will last four weeks and it will reach 65-70 per cent of the youth in Albania.

The campaign #Openyoureyes tells children: Yes, you are going to go online. Yes you are going to eventually experience content and behaviour that’s risky. It happens to everyone. But by working together and supporting each-other, you can deal with those issues in a safe and healthy way. Because when we help each-other find the right ways to respond, we can send a real message. 

“Children are an important part of the solution when addressing online sexual exploitation and abuse. UNICEF is calling on governments, the ICT sector, parents, and teachers to listen to children and reinforce dialogue through direct consultation or research, and to incorporate their thinking into policies, strategies, and programmes designed to tackle online child sexual abuse and exploitation.” said Antonella Scolamiero, UNICEF Representative in Albania.

“The British government believes that internet safety is important. We have funded UNICEF £10m to run this campaign worldwide. The UK is proud to lead the "We Protect" Global Alliance on tackling online child exploitation, building on the good work done so far”, said HE Duncan Norman, British Ambassador to Albania.

In 2012, the Convention on the Rights of the Child Committee, expressed its concern over the lack of an efficient system to protect children from harmful images and information related to violence, racism and pornography and to prevent unsafe information access by children in Albania. 

Since then, in 2016 as a result of the UK government grant and UNICEF advocacy efforts, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by four Ministries (the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth; the Ministry of Education and Sports; The State Ministry for Innovation and Public Administration, the Ministry of Interior) and a National Action Plan for online child safety has been developed as a follow up to the Abu Dhabi Summit on Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. 

These efforts have resulted in Albania’s first online platform ‘ISIGURT’ (www.isigurt.al) launched as a reporting platform for online abuse and offences. Despite the progress, the country still needs to further develop its legislation on child protection from sexual exploitation and online pornography.

For a successful campaign and a greater impact, it’s essential that Government and businesses from the communication/telephone industry act now and address ICT related violence, abuse and exploitation issues. 

The national #Openyoureyes campaign will be run in unison with UNICEF’s global #ReplyForAll campaign to #EndViolence online.