United Nations Children’s Fund

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a UN humanitarian and development agency working to protect and promote children’s rights around the world (in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child), and to improve the living conditions of children and their families.

UNICEF activities span across five main areas: child protection and social inclusion, child survival, education, emergencies and humanitarian action, and gender equality. In undertaking these activities, the agency works with a wide range of partners, including governments, intergovernmental organisations (such as the European Union), civil society organisations, and the private sector. UNICEF has also been establishing 36 National Committees in the world, each established as a national committee in more than 30 countries; these function as independent local non-governmental organisations working to raise funds and promote children’s rights at a national level.

UNICEF also aims to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

Some of the agency’s activities focus on issues related to child safety online, such as online child exploitation and cyberbullying. Examples of such activities include: advocacy for the criminalization of child sexual abuse materials and online grooming of children; support for strengthening governmental capacities to implement legislation and policies related to investigation and prosecution of cases involving online sexual abuse/exploitation; support for the establishment of comprehensive services for children abused/exploited through the Internet and mobile phones; raising awareness and building capacities of children, teachers and caregivers on the risks associated with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), as well as on protective measures to avoid such risks; and support for research projects aimed to enhance the understanding of children’s use of ICTs and appropriate responses to violence, exploitation and abuse facilitated through ICTs. The organisation is also looking into how ICTs can be used in child protection programmes, such as facilitating birth registration, rapid family tracing and case management.

UNICEF was involved, together with the International Telecommunication Union, in the elaboration and adoption of the Guidelines for industry on child online protection.