Global Cybersecurity Forum and UNICEF Unite to Safeguard Children in Cyberspace

RIYADH, 7 October 2024 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF) have agreed to deliver an initiative aimed at protecting children in cyberspace, including educational content for parents and caregivers, and strengthening the capacity of helplines to support children in at least 30 countries. This vital partnership, which was formalized at a signing ceremony at the GCF Annual Meeting in Riyadh, 2 to 3 October, aims to address growing cyber threats to children and empower them to navigate cyberspace safely.

This partnership will contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for children, particularly in enhancing their protection and rights in an increasingly digital environment. Through this collaboration, GCF and UNICEF will expand their ongoing efforts to create a safer Cyberspace for children, focusing on education and support for parents, caregivers, and children.

Sheema SenGupta, UNICEF Director of Child Protection and Migration, highlighted the importance of this initiative. "We are delighted to collaborate with GCF to address child protection in cyberspace. This partnership will enable us to accelerate work to protect children from online exploitation, abuse, and threats, while promoting their digital literacy and resilience."

GCF's commitment to ensuring Cyberspace is a safe and protected environment for children aligns with its mission to drive multistakeholder collaboration and collective action around key cybersecurity issues.

“As the risks to children in Cyberspace grow in number and complexity, we must collaborate to develop new forms of partnerships to advance our collective efforts to protect them. GCF’s collaboration with UNICEF will complement our efforts to ensure that Cyberspace is a safe and secure environment for all children,” said H.E. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Mazyed, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority, speaking on behalf of the GCF Board of Trustees.

This collaboration underscores the need for global and regional efforts to protect children in Cyberspace. As part of the agreement, GCF and UNICEF will work closely together to monitor the programme's progress and assess its impact, with the potential for extending and expanding the collaboration in the future.