It’s a fact: the web and other virtual technologies are key to supporting children’s schooling and generating opportunities. However, these technologies also pose risks.
Any time a young user accesses social media or messaging platforms, browses the internet, or otherwise engages in online activities, they are at risk of cyberbullying or abuse, exploitation, and exposure to violent content and misinformation. In fact, in 30 countries, more than a third of young people are reported to have been victims of cyberbullying; In 25 countries, about 80 percent of young people surveyed say they feel threatened with sexual abuse or exploitation.
Mental fitness and privacy are other concerns; Marketing and knowledge gathering among youth can lead to privacy violations and increased screen time, the latter of which is linked to negative effects on intellectual aptitude, especially among youth and adolescents.
The smart news? UNICEF and its partners are constantly adapting their methods not only to young people online, but also to ensure that the newest virtual technologies are designed and implemented with young people’s rights and ions in mind.
Through awareness-raising, sharing expert advice, and creating products, features, and policies, UNICEF and its partners (including governments and tech giants) are working to ensure that virtual technologies help young people around the world access education, socialization, and opportunities. Ly.
U-Report is a social messaging tool that helps other young people make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them, while connecting them with like-minded, advocacy-focused peers. The tool is available through messaging, social media and SMS channels, and is used by millions of people around the world.
U-Report has also been used with adolescents in emergency situations. During heavy flooding in Côte d’Ivoire and tropical storms in Latin America and the Caribbean, users temporarily shared the main points of emergency responses and tips on how to stay safe, allowing thousands of people and their loved ones to provide information when they needed it. it’s the majority.
A group used the U-Report platform to plan a school clean-up project in Diapangou, Burkina Faso. Together, they took meaningful action for local children while building a strong sense of community.
Similarly, UNICEF’s Voices of Youth platform offers a virtual collection booth to inspire community, inclusion and advocacy among young people. Since 1995, prior to the launch of social media as we know it, young leaders have shared ideas, engaged in conversations, and advocated for action on social justice issues online through Voices of Youth in the United States and beyond.
This month, U-Report and Voices of Youth are merging into a safe virtual area where other young people can stand to take meaningful action, magnify their voices, and make a difference. This new combined U-Report platform will succeed in millions of other people looking to make positive changes.
In addition to merging its powerhouse youth advocacy platforms Voices of Youth and U-Report, UNICEF works with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to support an innovative initiative called Giga. Launched in September 2019, Giga aims to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice.
With the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Giga maps schools’ Internet access to identify connectivity needs in real time. Giga has mapped more than 1 million of the estimated 6–7 million schools globally. This information is vital to governments and funders.
Giga also creates investment models and backs government contracts for connectivity. By mobilizing $5 billion to supply critical infrastructure, Giga and its partners are bridging the virtual divide and ensuring that schools and academics around the world have the equipment they want for information and education. and opportunities.
To date, Giga has expanded its work to 30 countries and aims to have every school on the planet connected to the Internet by 2030. Through its three-step process — mapping, financing and connecting — Giga is equipping governments worldwide to connect their schools and communities to the Internet and build a strong foundation for meeting their future digital development needs.
A student uses a computer to access online education in Zimbabwe, thanks to the Giga Initiative, a cutting-edge task introduced through UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2019.
UNICEF, with the support of global partners like Microsoft, is delivering learning to children in and out of the classroom with the Learning Passport, a free online, mobile and offline solution that provides access to flexible and quality education. Education is every child’s right, but due to many circumstances, it’s not a reality. Conflict and war, climate change impacts and gender-based stigmas and violence are just a few factors that make access to education — and opportunity — vulnerable.
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schooling for one billion young people around the world, UNICEF and Microsoft adapted the Learning Passport to ensure continued access to learning, a critical initiative to keep students on track during an unprecedented time. . The Learning Passport in Ukraine brings together a diversity of school courses and can be accessed online, on mobile phones and offline, allowing young people to continue learning where IT infrastructure is broken. In 2023 alone, the Learning Passport reached students in more than 38 countries, including Syria, Poland, and the Philippines, to help youth, youth and their families living in or affected by emergencies to continue learning, acquiring skills essentials and accessing resources to help their intellectual health. The program plays a key role in training students essential virtual skills, encompassing safe online browsing and virtual citizenship.
As children and adolescents worldwide face more frequent and severe disruptions to their education, the Learning Passport continues to prove itself an invaluable tool.
Guinean students participate in a sleek sleek tablet. Your school has implemented the Learning Passport, which allows students to continue to access quality educational resources even in the event of connectivity disruptions.
From connecting remote classrooms to the Internet with Giga to empowering young voices through the newly merged U-Report and Voices of Youth platform, UNICEF is not just responding to the challenges of today but is actively shaping a future where technology serves as a tool for opportunity — for every child.
Join U-Report’s global youth network to be inspired, take action and be part of change.