PAP members to take stock of online child sexual exploitation
(Nigeria) Department of Social Affairs of the African Union
Commission, AUC, has convened an awareness raising Summit with members of the
Pan-African Parliament, PAP, to tap into their crucial role in policy
formulation and ensuring prevention and prosecution of Online Child Sexual
Exploitation, OCSE.
According to a statement by the media unit of African
Parliament, the meeting is scheduled to take place from February 28 to 29, 2020, at the PAP’s Headquarters in Midrand, South Africa.The engagement will be held on the margins of the Sitting of the Permanent Committees of the PAP which began today and expected to end on March 7.
Online Child Sexual Exploitation is a fast-growing
phenomenon affecting many countries in Africa, particularly in those countries
with higher levels of internet coverage. It is exacerbated by the fact that
very few African countries have legislation that provides adequate protection
to children in cyberspace. This is according to research by the African Child
Policy Forum, ACPF.
Members of the Permanent Committees on Health; Gender;
Justice; and Rules will form part of the meeting, which will also see the
participation of Interpol; International Crime Watch; ECPAT; and specialized
agencies of the United Nations.
Roger Nkodo Dang says that the issue of OCSE is relevant to
the work of the African Parliament and the meeting will afford an opportunity
to enhance the knowledge and capacity of PAP members to address the issue at
country level.
“The consultation with the AUC is expected to provide
members of the PAP with additional tools to combat OCSE through the formulation
of appropriate legislation nationally. The rise of digital technologies has
benefited children especially in the areas of learning and education as well as
access to information.
“However, the growth of these technologies has also exposed
our children to the dangers of OCSE. It is therefore our responsibility to
protect them through decisive action and I hope this meeting will pave the way
for a strengthened solidarity in tackling OCSE.”
UNICEF has indicated that children and adolescent under 18
account for an estimated one in three internet users around the world. Africa is one of the two regions where
internet access is projected to grow the fastest between 2016 and 2021.
The meeting with African lawmakers follows the African
Union’s First Continental Consultation on combating Online Child Sexual
Exploitation held in 2019 in a bid to sensitize representatives from all the 55
African Union Member States on threats of OCSE as an emerging cybercrime, and
to mobilize political and country commitment.
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