Saif bin Zayed delivers a keynote speech on children's rights at the World Summit "We Protect"

Lieutenant-General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, delivered a keynote speech at the global summit "We Protect", which was held in the Belgian capital, Brussels, yesterday and today, and discussed ways to enhance international cooperation and coordination in the areas of protecting children and preserving their dignity through the digital world.

The summit came in its hybrid form, in person and by default, under the slogan “We work together to protect our children online,” with the participation of representatives from the European Mission, the European Parliament, UNICEF, INTERPOL, Europol, technical partners from international companies and senior specialists in law enforcement forces around the world, in addition to the participation of the Ministry of the Interior. The UAE is a member of the global coalition organization "We Protect", which is concerned with combating sexual exploitation of children via the Internet. The security coalition includes 99 countries, 56 private sector bodies, 9 international organizations, 71 organizations of public interest, and the Ministry of Interior holds a permanent member out of Five seats in the council of this alliance.

In a keynote speech, His Highness said that the health and safety of any child are essential to the development and upbringing of a normal family and society, and we must all strive to provide a healthy and safe environment for the child, to become a positive and active individual in his community and human surroundings.

His Highness added that with the escalation of the challenges of modern technologies, it is imperative that we act decisively to eliminate the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children via the Internet, to preserve their security and safety, indicating that children are the future of our bright world, and protecting them and providing support for them must be a top priority for us, policy makers. and decision makers.

His Highness stressed that His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, has always affirmed that protecting the rights of the child and ensuring a sound upbringing for him will remain at the top of the UAE's priorities. Therefore, we are required to secure a supportive and child-friendly digital environment, and that the role of the family is an essential element for the success of all these efforts. .

His Highness also indicated that one of the fruits of our joint and close work with the global coalition "We Protect" since hosting its second summit in Abu Dhabi in 2015, the National Strategy for Child Protection on the Internet, which strengthened our efforts to combat the crime of sexual exploitation of children, which is contrary to morals, humanity and religions.

His Highness concluded his speech by saying that the future of this world depends on the future of our children, and we have always believed in this. Our parents built a positive and safe environment for us, and we must do the same for our children. His Highness called on the participants to take advantage of this purposeful gathering, to come up with clear recommendations and commitments, for the good of our children. and children all over the world.

Over two days, the participants discussed prospects for strengthening international efforts to protect children and reduce crimes that target them, especially those via the Internet, including sexual exploitation, and how to protect them from extortion and derogatory content.

The two-day sessions were divided into separate axes, including threats facing children via the Internet, legislation governing child protection around the world, national response policies in countries and institutions working in child protection around the world. and artificial intelligence to find more solutions to protect children and enhance these efforts.

The UAE Ministry of Interior presented in a working paper the national response report in the country and the most important efforts made by the concerned authorities in protecting children and enhancing their security in all fields, especially with regard to their use of the Internet and how to promote positive behaviors and protect the security of their personal information and privacy, where the importance of taking and participating children was emphasized in the paper In making decisions and listening to them, including children's opinions gives them a safe space to talk about their concerns and gives us an understanding of what could have been done to prevent them from becoming a victim.

The paper emphasized that the challenges were initially at many levels, but thanks to the follow-up and support of the leadership, we overcame all challenges and drew a map for success through action plans and education as part of the implementation of the national response model. .

The working paper indicated the importance of participatory work and the participation of all sectors because this is the only way to overcome the negative impacts on the victims, and this would promote a stronger partnership with both the public and private sectors.

Extensive work is also required to educate the target audience about online risk awareness topics, and that the UAE believes in developing and adopting ethical technological innovations.

The Ministry of Interior is collaborating with the Unicre Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in the AI ​​initiative for safer children.

AI can play an important role in assisting law enforcement agencies around the world in developing skills and sourcing AI solutions to combat the spread of child abuse material.

This initiative aims to make AI tools accessible to law enforcement agencies around the world.

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