The National Cybersecurity Authority Launches the Global Program for Creating a Safe and Prosperous Cyberspace for Children in Cooperation with ITU to support the objectives of the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Initiative for Safe Children in the Cyber World

The National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA), in cooperation with the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), signed a strategic partnership agreement to launch the global program for Creating a Safe and Prosperous Cyberspace for Children on Thursday, December 17, 2020, at ITU’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The agreement was signed by NCA’s Governor, His Excellency Dr. Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Sabti, and ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Mrs. Doreen Bogdan-Martin. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General of ITU, and the Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohammad Al-Wasel, with the participation of NCA’s Deputy Governor of International Cooperation, Eng. Majed bin Mohammad Al-Mazyed, and a delegation from the NCA and ITU.
The program will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the children online protection initiative sponsored by His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz - may Allah protect him -, which was announced during the Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF) that was held in Riyadh in February of this year. It aims to support the development of best practices, policies, and programs to enhance the protection of children online as we face growing cyber threats that target children and expose them to cybercrimes.
Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General of ITU, applauded the Kingdom’s role in supporting international activities to protect children in cyberspace, and he expressed his appreciation for the Kingdom’s efforts in this area, including the Crown Prince’s initiative.
The NCA-ITU partnership is built on three pillars: the first is to support countries in the development of relevant policies and laws that empower children in the cyber world, the second is to build capacity and hone the skills necessary to protect children online, and the third is to reinforce discussions that are relevant to protecting children in cyberspace. This program will result in a number of deliverables, the most prominent of which include the translation and dissemination of guidelines to protect children in cyberspace. These guidelines were developed by over 50 global entities and will be shared in over 20 languages.
The program will further provide over 50 global training courses in the UN’s official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Over 500 open consultations will be held to follow up on the program’s implementation, and ‘training of trainers’ will be provided around the globe to support implementation of the child online protection guidelines and to provide instruction on how to develop applications for smartphones and fun educational games that contribute to child online protection. The program will also support countries in their efforts to evaluate existing and develop new child online protection policies. Finally, the program will launch awareness-raising and enrichment programs in developing countries, establishing task forces to support countries in development of their child protection programs.