DICT Hosts ITU-ASEAN Workshop on Child Online Protection

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The ​​​​​​​International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) organized a workshop on Child Online Protection in association with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) which was held on September 13 and 14, 2016 at a hotel in Quezon City.

The workshop gathered ASEAN Member States (AMS) and invited representatives from organizations such as Stairway Foundation Inc., the Philippine National Police – Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), ECPAT Philippines, ICT Watch Indonesia, The Asia Foundation Philippines, Privacy Commission Philippines, and Child Protection Network Foundation, Inc. in order to strengthen its initiative towards making a safer Cyber-Environment for the generations to come.

In his keynote address, Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima of the DICT notes that the event is a is a testament to the organization’s commitment to the ITU-ASEAN Initiative on Developing a Strategy Framework for Child Online Protection, being the first international event of the newly-established agency. He called on the sentiments of the delegates in creating better Child Online Protection policies by saying: “our light shines the brightest when we dedicate and devote our lives and our time for our people and their children.”

Ms. Aurora Rubio from the ITU called on the different AMS to come together in promoting the increasingly vital need to keep everyone, especially the young people, safe online despite the reality that in the online world, global, and even regional and national collaboration is not so easily implemented due to the different definitions and developments in the implementation of child online protection in different countries. She was hopeful that by the end of the workshop, participants would be able to contribute and support ASEAN countries to develop and implement effective national, and ASEAN child online protection general framework and plans.

During the workshop, different Child Online Protection Initiatives in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam was shared, along with expert counsel from the invited organizations. With the help of the Stairway Foundation Inc. and the Department of Education, the participants were also treated to a consultation with the youth, their parents, and teachers from participating schools in the area. Through this, the participants were able to gain the valuable perspective of the youth, who, as Ysrael Diloy from Stairway Foundation Inc. says, are the “experts in the field of [COP].”

Atty. Maria Roda Cisnero moderated the module on the presentation of the recommendations for the Draft ASEAN Framework on Child Online Protection from the breakout groups, which included the youth. The workshop concluded with Ms. Aurora Rubio’s moderation of the multi-stakeholders’ panel discussions which gave further insight in moving COP discussions toward better policies.

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