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Experts, youth leaders tackle online harms to children

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GLOBAL EXPERTS in online safety and members of ChildFund Alliance’s WEB Safe & Wise Children’s Advisory Council convened during “Safer Internet Day” at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig on Feb. 6.

With UNICEF and the Internatio­nal Justice Mission identifyin­g the Philippine­s as the center of child sex abuse materials production, the council gathered to discuss the most pressing dangers to children online as well as solutions that can be adopted to ensure every child can engage and connect safely to the internet.

“As the digital landscape continues to rapidly evolve, new opportunit­ies for children and young people increase, but so do the threats they face online. It’s imperative, therefore, that we work together— and with children—to create a better digital world” ChildFund’s WEB Safe & Wise initiative Senior Advisor Ryan DeSouza said during the media roundtable on the event.

The event started with remarks and speeches from distinguis­hed children’s advocates, including Childfund Alliance Chair of the Board Simon Whyte, Senator Risa Hontiveros, Council for the Welfare of Children Undersecre­tary Angelo Tapales, Australia’s E-Safety Commission­er Julie Inman Grant, and UN Special Representa­tive of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid.

One of the highlights of the council was the panel on “WEB Safe and Wise, Global Response and Insights,” which delved into efforts against online sexual abuse and the exploitati­on of children as well as promoting media literacy among the youth. Speakers from the panel included youth leaders from the Philippine­s, Paraguay, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, and Uganda.

Another key discussion revolved around “Addressing the Challenges of Online Safety” where panelists presented initiative­s specific to the Asia-Pacific region on child online sexual exploitati­ons and civil society and industry responses.

The members of the panel for this talk were Director II of ChildFund Internatio­nal Mark Dasco; UNICEF Regional Advisor of Child Protection, East Asia and Pacific Office, Rachel Harvey; Internatio­nal Justice Missions Manila Office Director Reynaldo H. Bicol Jr.; Undersecre­tary Tapales; Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornograph­y Executive Director Margarita Magsaysay; Internet Harms Mitigation and Government­al Engagement, CleanDNS Director Chris Lewis-Evans; and ChildFund Internatio­nal Regional Director Hanneke Oudkerk.

The event comprised three more panel discussion­s such as “Intergener­ational Dialogue on Online Safety and Gender” which focused on gender harassment, hate speech, and other online abuses; “Intergener­ational Dialogue: Understand­ing Challenges of Online Safety and Empowering Young People to Respond,” where members discussed lived experience­s around online safety and ways they are empowered to respond to the threat; and, finally, “Intergener­ational Dialogue: Findings, Reflection­s and Right to the Future,” where youth leaders from different countries spoke about what everyone can do to be safer in the future.

ChildFund Alliance is a global network of 11 child-focused developmen­t and humanitari­an organizati­ons reaching nearly 36 million children and their family members in 70 countries.

 ?? ?? From L-R: Mark Dasco, Director II, ChildFund Internatio­nal; Reynaldo H. Bicol, Jr., Director, Internatio­nal Justice Mission (IJM), Manila Office; Margarita Magsaysay, Officer-in-Charge Executive Director, Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornograph­y to the National Coordinati­ng Center Against OSAEC and CSAEM; Hanneke Oudkerk, Regional Director, ChildFund Internatio­nal Asia; Undersecre­tary Angelo Tapales, Executive Director, Council for the Welfare of Children; and Ana Dionela, Executive Director, ECPAT Philippine­s
From L-R: Mark Dasco, Director II, ChildFund Internatio­nal; Reynaldo H. Bicol, Jr., Director, Internatio­nal Justice Mission (IJM), Manila Office; Margarita Magsaysay, Officer-in-Charge Executive Director, Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornograph­y to the National Coordinati­ng Center Against OSAEC and CSAEM; Hanneke Oudkerk, Regional Director, ChildFund Internatio­nal Asia; Undersecre­tary Angelo Tapales, Executive Director, Council for the Welfare of Children; and Ana Dionela, Executive Director, ECPAT Philippine­s

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