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World’s youth pave the way to safer internet at groundbreaking London congress
Thursday 17 July 2008
Up to 150 young people from across the globe have arrived in the UK for the first law enforcement-led International Youth Advisory Congress (IYAC) on online safety and security.
The outcome will be the Children and Young People’s Global Online Charter which will be submitted to the UN for inclusion in the 2009 Resolution of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Congress sees delegates - aged between 14-17 years - from countries as diverse as the USA, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, India, Poland and Namibia coming face-to-face and working with those responsible for internet safety and security: representatives from government, industry, law enforcement and the media.
The initiative is being led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the UK’s dedicated organisation for tackling the sexual abuse of children - and is supported by the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), an international alliance of law enforcement agencies focused on tackling child sexual exploitation.
The five-day Congress will give young people, specially chosen to represent their countries, the chance to shape the internet and online environment for children and young adults across the world.
The event empowers young people by providing a platform on which they, the main inhabitants and drivers of online environments, can meaningfully engage with those delivering and working with online environments. It is a chance to explore the risks of the increasingly converged online and offline environments and to outline a roadmap of solutions and possibilities.
This will build the strategy for industry, government, law enforcement and education sectors when tackling future online issues.
Major corporations and organisations are contributing to the success of the IYAC initiative. Visa Europe, Microsoft, Virgin Media, ACS International Schools, Becta, the European Commission, and PayPal are on board providing support, resources and specialist expertise. The Prime Minister, Sir Richard Branson KBE and others are personally supporting IYAC through video messages to the delegates.
Stephanie from Belfast is a member of the CEOP Centre's Youth Advisory Panel and has been part of the early planning for the IYAC sessions:
“I have been using the internet since primary school and have seen it grow and become part of my life in many ways - I can’t remember a time without the internet being there. So for me it makes obvious sense to involve young people in making the virtual world safer. We know how it works and we push the opportunities it presents as much as we can. If I could pass on one message to my peers it is this - visit www.iyac.net and find out how you can become involved in this programme. If I could pass on one message to anyone out there responsible for or working on making the internet safer I would say work with and listen to us. We might not have all the answers but we do have a lot of user experience and together I think we can make a real difference.”
Brandon a delegate from Toronto, Canada, adds:
“I'm excited to be part of the Canadian delegation at the IYAC event. We are encouraged that police and industry want to hear from us and want to do something about making the Internet safer for everybody.”
Rauna, representing Namibia, agrees:
“IYAC is good for youth for child online protection. We can communicate it to Namibian children and educate them. It's good for getting more knowledge of the online safety from other people. Internet is good for teaching.”
Jim Gamble is chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce and heads up the UK’s CEOP Centre:
“The International Youth Advisory Congress is truly breaking new ground: not only are young people engaging directly with those responsible for their online safety and security, but it is underpinned by law-enforcement through the Virtual Global Taskforce partnership.”
“IYAC is about inclusion and opportunity. Major corporations and many others behind the scenes have made this event a reality with their commitment, with their expertise, with their resources. Our intention is to start small and build up over the years. After all, young people are the natives of the online world, it is they who have made online and offline environments a converged reality and it is they who should have a real say in how they want to be protected.”
Notes to Editors:
1. Visit www.iyac.net for further information. In addition to UK delegates, international delegates are attending IYAC from the following countries:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Canada
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Greece
- Iceland
- India
- Italy
- Namibia
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Poland
- Republic of Ireland
- Spain
- Sweden
- USA
- Zimbabwe
2. For interview requests please contact Miriam Rich, Vicky Gillings or Clive Michel at CEOP on 0870 000 3434 and visit www.ceop.gov.uk.
3. On the morning of Thursday 17th July ONLY please contact: RED PR consultancy on 020 7025 6500 – ask for the CEOP team.
4. Statements of commitment from Visa Europe, Microsoft, Virgin Media, ACS International Schools, Becta and the European Commission accompany this press notice. Specific media contacts for each organisation are also included.
5. The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) was set up in 2003 in order to build a global response to tackling the sexual exploitation of children. The UK, US, Australia, Canada and Interpol were all founding partners and were recently joined by Italy. Full details on the work of the VGT can be found at www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com.
6. The CEOP Centre is the UK’s dedicated policing organisation focused on tackling the sexual abuse of children. It delivers a totally holistic approach combining specialists from across UK and international police forces as well as the wider child protection community such as the NSPCC and industry such as Microsoft, SERCO, VISA Europe, Ford, Vodafone, and PayPal.
7. Becta is the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning.
8. ACS International Schools enrols over 2,500 students aged between 2.5 and 18, from more than 70 countries, at three London area campuses in England. The schools are non-sectarian and co-educational, with both day and boarding available.